


Cave Me In

by hokshi



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Love Triangles, Masturbation, Multi, Slow Burn, Wet Dream, Will add more characters and tags as story progresses, like... really REALLY eventual smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-12-08 18:59:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11652708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hokshi/pseuds/hokshi
Summary: American High School!AU where Killua and Gon are on the football team and find some shining star qualities in someone who wants to stay in the shadows. Gon actively pursues her while Killua stews in his growing mixed feelings about it all.





	1. A Call for Help

**Author's Note:**

> i know we all love a good f/m/m fic, but sometimes i just find it too far-fetched to just assume that a girl managed to get two of the hottest guys falling all over her and start from there. so i'm going attempt to build up to that beautiful three-way relationship through a lot of torturous, slow burning development :) and i'll be writing about our lovely hxh protagonists in an American high school setting. 
> 
> there are gonna be a few different dynamics going on in this story, but it is mainly a self-indulgent fic, so i hope it tickles your fancy. i wrote most of this a while back when i was in one of my mainstream pop binge-phases, so a lot of it is inspired by the music i listened to. feel free to listen to the links i'll attach to the story because those are the songs i imagined to accompany the plot, but you can also read without it.
> 
> and although i use an OC to build up an identity/background/conflict, you can also just look at it as a reader-insert if you so please. like i said, it's mainly a self-indulgent fic. i'll be adding more tags as the story moves along, but if you have any questions about the workings of American high schools or anything like that, feel free to ask!

The school rock band was going to perform for this semester’s spirit week rally, hence why everyone was piled up in the bleachers in the warm, but fleeting summer air. As much as Lay would love to scoot around on the metal benches with her classmates, she had to help with the equipment setup. And after plugging in all of the wires, and strategically placing the speakers and other instruments apart enough to have the sound reach the entire football field, Lay went off to check things off with the theater tech teacher. 

 

The pep rally goes by relatively smoothly, save for a few class dance-off mishaps, and someone’s pants falling down during one of the races. Everyone sat through the color guard and drill team performances, and got excited enough during the dance team performance. However, it was when the rock band had to perform that people eventually came across problems. 

 

The tech teacher, and the three tech students, including Lay, all rushed to the scene to help figure out the problem. Eventually, one of the guitarists, Jispa, revealed that his looper pedal wasn’t working, and he even played a few chords and turned the dial to back his statement. After several minutes of testing more dials and wires, the crowd was starting to get antsy, so Lay decides to step up, “Let me check it out.” 

 

After unplugging and plugging several of the cables back in, she asks Jispa to play a chord so she can test out the looper herself. But the echo still doesn’t make the sounds that it should, “Can I borrow your guitar for a minute?” 

 

“Uh… sure, I guess.” Jispa pulls the strap of the black stratocaster over his head and hands Lay the guitar, who pulls the instrument over her own body. It takes a few minutes to get the setup running properly, but everyone’s attention in the football stadium is turned to Lay when she starts playing her first several [chords](https://youtu.be/0F56DAxmZJo), loud and fierce. 

 

 

She even sings a lyric to test the mic out, and test the echo of that as well. She makes a quick stop to turn another couple dials on another panel of buttons and then continues with the chords where she left off, and repeats the same line. This time, the microphone gives off the effect that she wants and she lets the last echoes of her voice travel through the football field before pulling the guitar back over her head and handing it back to Jispa, “Should be set.” 

 

“T-Thanks.” Jispa stares, along with everyone else, dumbfounded at the sudden talent show. It was short, but incredibly awe-inducing. The band’s performance goes unhindered, as do most of the remaining events in the rally. 

 

A big stir, however, comes upon them when several of the juniors during their class dance bring fireworks into their performance. Obviously, they hadn’t told the faculty about this since it wouldn’t have been approved, so all the staff as well as some of the tech students are suddenly freaking out when several of the boys in the group of performers bring out their bottle rockets and even some firecrackers. 

 

And soon, the football field catches on fire. The nearest fire extinguisher is all the way in the nearest building, which is a good several hundred meters away. The theater tech teacher has sent Lay and some other students off to fetch some, but they don’t return until after a good several minutes, even though they had sprinted the entire time.

 

By the time the students had returned and sprayed down the majority of the fire, and other teachers had run in with more fire extinguishers, the field was ruined. Students had been evacuated and the fire department came in to assess the situation. Class was out for the rest of the day. The boys who were involved in the stunt in the junior performance group were suspended for a generous two weeks. But they managed to create their legend in school history. 

  
  


*

 

Several weeks later, most of the football field had been restored, at the cost of most of the student body’s funds for recreation. But the student council and spirit committee have gathered together in a meeting to move forward anyway. 

 

“Alrighty, let’s get started on the big event coming up: Homecoming!” Cocco announces, “Unfortunately, the principal has told me that our budget, with the several fundraisers we’ve had since the spirit rally incident, we’ll be able to provide and purchase all the expected decorations and snacks for the dance if we hold it here at school. However, unless we decide to exponentially increase the price of tickets, we probably won’t be able to hire a band or DJ for the night. Opinions?”

 

“What?! That totally blows.” Killua huffs, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair. He isn’t actually significantly involved with student affairs, but he had joined the spirit committee on behalf of the football team so that they could get their agenda in during school events. 

 

“Why are you complaining when you and your friends were the ones who caused that incident that made us lose our entire budget in the first place?” Kurapika shoots back. 

 

“Hey!” Killua shoots back up in his seat, “It was just a stunt to get attention for our year, we didn’t think it’d get that out of hand!”

 

“Yeah, you didn’t think. That’s where it all starts, isn’t it.” Leoreo mutters. 

 

“You wanna go?” slamming his hands on the table as he gets up, Killua scowls at the student council members attacking him. 

 

After the other members of the council and committee calm the situation, they’re back to where they started, “Well, we do have the school rock band, The Getters.” Melody suggests, “If they’re not planning to attend homecoming themselves, perhaps we can ask them to perform.” 

 

“You mean the band that performed at the spirit rally for the class representative songs?” Neon perks up, “I concur! The guitarist was hot.” 

 

“Neon…” Eliza gives her friend an exasperated look.

 

“I’m just kidding! Partly. I think they’re good enough to play the entire night if they’d accept. It’s better than letting any of teachers come up with a playlist or putting on the radio or something.” 

 

“Well what are we gonna offer them if we don’t have money?” Coco Loo asks.

 

Kurapika is the one who pipes up since the president doesn’t seem to have an answer yet, “Since they’re all students, we could offer them some free absent days, or work with some of their teachers about giving them some free extra credit, or exempting them from a test or something.”

 

“We can definitely ask, but let’s see if the band will agree to perform first. Any objections to making The Getters our choice of entertainment for the Homecoming dance?” Cocco looks around the room for hands. “Okay then, moving on…” 

  
  


*

  
  


Jispa’s answer flutters between a yes and no, “I gotta ask the rest of the band first. I mean, I think we’d all be down to do it, but the thing is, we don’t have a lead singer right now.” 

 

“Is having one going to be the dealbreaker if the rest of the band says yes?” Piyon asks. She had come with Cocco as a representative for the spirit committee. 

 

“Probably not, but none of us are comfortable enough to sing the entire time on our own. We each can manage like one or two songs at a time. And even if we take turns, it’ll be a struggle. The only ones who can manage to sing right now are me and the twins.” Jispa rubs the back of his head. 

 

“Is there anyone in mind that you’d like as your lead singer that we could try to ask?” Cocco offers. 

 

“Yeah! Actually,” Jispa straightens, “You guys know Lay? Layla Bellamy? She’s a junior too.”

 

Cocco and Piyon look at each other before shaking their heads. “Really?” Jispa asks, “She’s in theater tech, and she doesn’t really like having too much attention, so I guess that makes sense but… Oh! You remember at the spirit rally, there was this one girl who played this awesome rift on my guitar to test the sound system?”

 

“Oh, her.” Cocco nods, “Yes, I do remember that. It ended as quick as it started, but it was an interesting sound check.” 

 

Piyon hums, looking through her endless photos from the spirit rally on her phone for a face to match the name of the girl they’re talking about. Once she comes across one of her standing in the back with the tech teacher and other students in their all black outfits, she thinks internally, _One of the tech geeks? Isn’t she kind of a nobody?_ _Her large black-rimmed glasses and complete apathy for style definitely say so._

 

“Yeah, but get this. I asked her after all the rally craziness if she wanted to join the band or just to jam out sometimes, and she was all, ‘hell no.’ But I could tell in just those twenty seconds at the rally that she had something we couldn’t afford to lose, so I looked into her, and apparently her mom is Sala Bel!” he lowers his voice as if sharing a secret. 

 

The looks on Cocco and Piyon’s faces are to be expected. Sala Bel is one of the country’s greatest gems in pop culture. Everyone in the country, let alone the school, probably knows her name. They probably would have played several of her songs at the dance, as they have at previous dances. So it’d be inconceivable to think that the offspring of Sala Bel has been attending their school for three years without them having found out.

 

The two girls break out laughing as if Jispa had told them a good joke, “Yeah right. Don’t you think that we would’ve found out by now if the daughter of Sala Bel was going to school with us?” Piyon wipes a tear away. 

 

“I know, I couldn’t believe it either. But when I went to ask Lay about it, she almost had me by the neck. Threatened my life if I ever told anyone.” Jispa is still whispering, “But guys, if you can get Lay to join the band, even if just for Homecoming, then we’re a guaranteed go.” 

 

“Guaranteed?” Cocco blinks, wide-eyed.

 

“Guaranteed.” Jispa swipes his arms apart in a motion as if sealing a deal, “The band will 100% play for Homecoming if Lay is our lead singer. I swear.” 

 

“You swear?” Piyon holds her pinky out to the band leader.

 

“If you can do it, that is.” Jispa chuckles, linking their pinkies together and giving it a small shake, “Good luck.” he smiles before heading off to his next class. 

  
  


*

  
  


“Why do I have to go?” Killua mumbles through a mouthful of bread as Piyon drags him along with her and Cocco to find Lay. 

 

“Because!” Piyon exclaims, “You are a member of our sorry school’s pride -- the football team! And trust me, nine out of ten times, when a popular boy asks a wallflower girl for a favor, she’ll do it. It’s you and your friends’ fault in the first place for making us lose our budget and have to search for alternatives in the first place anyway!” 

 

Killua groans, Piyon scolds him, and Cocco leads them to the auditorium in search of the girl. The president asks the teacher, who calls for Lay, who has to make her way off of the stage where she’s working on some sort of prop and jog up to the entrance of the theater. 

 

They speak out in the hallway, but their immediate answer is, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not interested.” 

 

The three are dumbfounded at being immediately shot down, and they just stare at the space that Lay had been standing in before realizing she had left it. Cocco is the one who bounces back fastest, “Wait, wait, wait!” she chases after Lay and puts a hand on her shoulder to stop her, “Please, we know that you have it in you. You even played that awesome guitar rift at the spirit rally last time!” she’s just quoting Jispa at this point, unable to think of a good way to convince her.

 

“That was a sound check. I already told Jispa and the others that I have no intention of performing in front of others.” Lay replies. 

 

“Why not? Isn’t your mom like super famous? Surely, you have some of her talent as well. It’s not like you’re doing anything high stakes.” Killua replies, hands resting behind his head.

 

Just then Lay swings her head around at the football captain, “Who the hell told you that?” 

 

Cocco and Piyon are staring wide-eyed between each other and the other two. They hadn’t told Killua about what Jispa said, but did he somehow know about it already? And if he knew, then that probably meant it was true. Lay’s mom is Sala Bel. 

 

“Hmm? About your mom?” Killua tilts his head with an innocently curious look on his face, “Well, my family works for some pretty high end clients. Your mom is one of them, actually.” 

 

The other two girls can’t bring themselves to make a peep, and they just continue to stare at Lay and Killua’s little standoff. It’s a little hard to read the look in Lay’s eyes behind her glasses, which look even thicker up close, but it’s clear that she’s feeling hostile towards the football player. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make assumptions about me based on my family. I thought you of all people would have been able to understand that, Zoldyck.” 

 

This time, it’s Killua’s gaze that’s gotten darker in hostility. He lowers his arms and tucks his hands in his pockets, “Whatever.” his finally scoffs, looking away. 

 

“Killua?” Piyon utters quietly, and Lay makes her way back into the auditorium. 

  
  


*

  
  


The student council and spirit committee have yet to give up though, because like Jispa said, the band will still need a lead singer if they don’t want to just dance to instrumentals all night. So each member of the council and committee makes their way to find Lay throughout the rest of the week, constantly asking her and constantly getting shot down. They had offered her academic benefits, exemption from fees for any future recreational events, food, and even prom dates to convince her. All of them fell through, and some even ended up with bruises. 

 

On the last Friday before the week of Homecoming, they’re at a loss, and The Getters are leaning towards not performing since they don’t have a lead singer they can practice with. Killua is telling his friends on the team about it during lunch, or more like complaining about how everyone is stressing so much over this one thing. 

 

“So if this girl doesn’t agree, then we won’t have a band for Homecoming?” Gon pouts, “Man, I was really looking forward to it.”

 

“You were?” Killua’s eyes widen, “Aren’t you going with Palm??” 

 

“Yeah, but we’re going as friends.”

 

“And you think that she’ll actually keep her hands to herself the entire time.” Killua deadpans. 

 

A couple of the other guys laugh at that, “True, you know that she’s gonna be gunnin’ for you all night, Gon.” Phinks chuckles. 

 

“Guys, chill out. I’m not going to give her any of the wrong signals. But she’s really looking forward to this, and I think it’ll be fun too.” Gon argues, “Well, if we aren’t just gonna have some random Pandora station all night, that is.” he gives a Killua a pointed look.

 

“What?”

 

Just then, Kurapika approaches the football team’s table, “Killua, can I talk to you for a minute?” 

 

“Hey, Kurapika.” Gon greets the student council VP, “You can sit here.” he scoots over to make room for the blonde.

 

“Thanks Gon,” he takes the offered seat, “So Killua, about Lay. I think you should approach her again about Homecoming.”

 

“What?! Why me?” Killua protests, suddenly getting heated at the thought of having to talk to Lay, imagining that pinning look of hers, as if she knew all of his secrets and insecurities and was being kind enough to hold back. 

 

“From what Cocco told me, you’re the only one who seemed to have some sort of mutual understanding with her, despite how nobody else knew what was going on.” Kurapika explains, “Not to mention, you’re already in a league in which you knew who her mother was. If anyone has the means to convince her, it’s you.” 

 

“As if.” Killua scoffs, chomping down hard on his sandwich, “I don’t know jack about her. And she sure as hell isn’t gonna listen to me.” 

 

Kurapika sighs, “At least give it a last try. I feel like you’re our last bullet, and we won’t know unless we give it a shot. Come on, just ask once last time with your all, and then if she still says no then I’ll say we’ve done everything we can.” 

 

More groaning from Killua, and a little encouragement from Gon and the rest of the team, Killua finds himself outside of the auditorium again after school instead of at the locker room to get ready for practice. With a final sigh, he walks inside and lifts the light-blocking curtain out of the way. He’s about to ask whoever’s passing by to get Lay for him, but the girl herself happens to be walking by Killua at that very moment, “Hey.” he calls before he can stop himself, forgetting that he hadn’t actually prepared anything to say. 

 

“Zoldy--?” Lay freezes in her tracks and clears her throat before standing to face him head-on, “Killua? What are you doing here?” 

 

“I think you have a pretty good idea.” his shrugs, but keeps his hands tucked in his pockets, “I need to get you to perform for Homecoming somehow.”

 

“You guys are still on about that?” Lay groans, rolling her head back, “No means no. How many times do I have to repeat it for you to understand? Just because my mom is a performer, doesn’t mean I’m suited to be one.”

 

“Well you wouldn’t know if you haven’t even tried.” Killua shrugs, as if the answer has always been that simple. 

 

It’s enough to incite an angry spark in Lay’s eyes, Killua notices, “What would you know? What if I suddenly needed your help with finances and credit scores? Or I wanted you to introduce me to one of your powerful clients so I could form some sort of partner account with them? You’d be jumping to help me, wouldn’t you?” 

 

“That’s completely different!” Killua is on the defensive, and he doesn’t even know why, “My family’s picked everything out for me and laid out my future as if I have no choice in the matter. You’re in a family of art and expression, so you’re free to do whatever you like. Don’t act like our situations are the same!” 

 

“You’re the one who came to  _ me _ for help! And you’re not even bothering to try to understand the first thing about me before you start being hypocritical!” Lay shouts back. 

 

“It’s not like I wanted your help! It’s the freaking band who wants you to join them. I’m just here on spirit committee duty to run the question one last time.” 

 

Lay and Killua are still facing off and they’re much closer to each other now than they were at the beginning of their conversation. Lay’s voice is scarily lower now, “Well, you have your answer. You can leave now.” 

 

“Fine.” he humphs, turning on his heel and stuffing his hands in his pockets again.

 

“Fine!” Lay shouts after him.

 

“Fine!” Killua is determined to have the last word, unable to comprehend his sudden rush of hot blood through to his head, “Guess Gon and the rest of the team’ll have to deal with listening to Pandora all night.” he mutters mostly to himself before he disappears behind the curtain and exits through the door. 

 

Despite how his head is reeling and his teeth are clenched in frustration from that girl who talks as if she knows everything about him or his family problems, he realizes in the back of his head that his attempt to appeal was a bust. Guess they’ll have to deal with instrumentals all night after all. 

 

“Wait!”

 

Or maybe not. 

 

Lay’s footsteps echo through the hallway as she jogs up to Killua, who turns around to face her, “What?” Despite his hostility towards her, he can see that she isn’t looking to pick a fight this time around, judging by the nervous look on her face and her averted eyes. 

 

“You… You said, the football team is gonna be going? To Homecoming?” she hesitates, fingers tugging at the hem of her shirt. Her head is tilted slightly down, low enough for her glasses to slide down her nose. 

 

“Huh?” Killua is taken off guard, “Well, yeah.”

 

“The  _ whole _ team?” 

 

“Well, basically.” Killua raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t know if he likes where this is going. 

 

Lay sucks in a breath, looking like she’s contemplating something really hard. It’s almost as if this decision is causing her physical pain to think over. After several more seconds of her silent anxiousness, she turns to Killua again, stepping closer, “Okay, I’ll do it.” 

 

Killua blinks, “Wait, what?”

 

“I’ll be the singer or whatever for the band. But only for Homecoming.” Lay’s eyes are sharp.

 

“You will?” 

 

“I will. But!” Lay holds up a finger, “Only if you do me a personal favor.”

 

“Uh… what is it?” Yeah, he definitely doesn’t think he likes where this is going.

 

“I get one dance with any member of the football team that night. Just one, but they can’t refuse me.” 

 

Her expression is absolutely serious, and Killua doesn’t know how to react to it, “That’s it? Not even a date or something? You could’ve just asked whoever yourself, it’s not that big a deal.” 

 

“How can I be someone’s date when I’ll be performing? That’d be pointless. And although it’s hard to believe, my  _ allure _ doesn’t always capture everyone.” Lay makes an ironic smile as she gestures to herself with her waving arms. 

 

“You don’t know that. You didn’t even try.” Killua states plainly. 

 

“Shut up, Zoldyck. As if you’d know what it’s like to get nervous or feel insecure.” Lay bites, “But you have to promise me; one dance, with whoever I want that evening.”

 

“Can’t you just tell me who you want the dance with? Then I could just let him know instead warning the whole team about it.” 

 

Lay actually snorts, “As if I’d tell you. I’m already revealing enough as it is. But you haven’t promised me yet. Promise me, or I’m not doing this stupid Homecoming band thing.” 

 

“Fine, fine! I promise! Jeez.” Killua holds his arms up in surrender. Then Lay holds her pinkie out to him, waiting. Killua sighs and drops his arms pulling his own pinkie out to link with Lay’s. Her hand is soft and warm as their knuckles touch. The gesture is childish and doesn’t really embed any real promises in stone, but it’s somewhat endearing, Killua finds himself thinking. 

 

“Kay.” Lay breaks him out of his thoughts when she pulls her hand away, “Guess I’ll go find Jispa or the others before they leave today.” she starts walking off, but she turns to remind Killua, “Don’t forget, Zoldyck! I’m counting on you.” 

  
“Yeah, yeah. I got you the first time.” Killua shouts back, hands back in his pockets, ignoring the strange thudding his feels in his chest when he had heard  _ I’m counting on you _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bE mY FRIEND
> 
> blushinggray.tumblr.com


	2. One Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the night of Homecoming! Who gets to be Prince Charming?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, the chapter title is a Drake reference.

The student council and spirit committee were overjoyed when they heard the news. All the members had been coming up to Killua on Monday, saying things like “Killua, you pulled through for us! I knew you weren’t completely useless!” or other. When he had called attention in the locker room that Monday afternoon before practice to announce that one of them would be victim to being Lay’s dance partner for a good three minutes on the night of Homecoming, the reaction was boisterous. 

 

“Dude, someone on the team? She’s probably into one of us, right?” Knuckle nudges Franklin. 

 

“One dance can be the start to everything.” Barry chuckles.

 

“You guys actually want to dance with her? Didn’t know you were into tech geeks.” Phinks teases with a laugh that’s been worn down by hundreds of cigarettes. 

 

Then some arguments about girls start coming up and some bets are even made about who Lay will choose. And soon, the guys are foregoing changing for playfully knocking into each other and rubbing fists into their teammates’ heads. “Okay, okay, calm down guys.” Gon is the one who announces, “Either way, let’s just be happy that Killua actually managed to get us a band for the dance so we don’t have to just have some iTunes playlist in the background. Now get your asses changed for practice, already!” 

  
  


*

  
  


For a budget that could barely get you three full tanks of gas, the gym looks pretty decent. Some artsy handmade lanterns are scattered throughout the ceiling, and a couple balloon arches mark areas designated for the entrances, refreshments, and the photo booth. In fact, most of the budget just went into getting the extra rainbow-light rotating disco balls that are stationed around the room. They even managed to attach two of them to the ceiling. The color scheme is simple, just some lavender and white, with small dashes of baby blue here and there. 

 

Killua is only able to notice all these things because he had been required to help with decorating during the week. If he wasn’t part of the spirit committee, he would’ve just been focused on how dead tired he was after the homecoming game earlier that afternoon. But despite how exhausted he and the team are, they all managed to clean up pretty nicely. 

 

Miraculously, not a single one of the guys had shown up in his football jersey tonight. The last two years, there had been at least two or three of the really jocky guys who’d just show up to the dance in what they wore after the game. It’s surprising to see Phinks and Kanzai actually put some effort into wearing a dress shirt and tie. 

 

But as far as appearances go, that’s as refined as they’ll get for the evening. Several of the guys are already tipsy from the beer they had ingested earlier, and Killua wouldn’t be surprised if he saw a couple of them hiding flasks somewhere on them. 

 

Gon is off entertaining Palm, so Killua has mainly been talking with Zushi and their dates. Killua had just ended up going with one of the cheerleaders, Asta, since they both didn’t seem to have much interest in anyone else in the school. They’ve had a couple of classes together and they see each other at games a lot, and she has some big tits. So he figured it was better than going dateless. 

 

Zushi was in a similar situation with Killua, in which he didn’t feel like he needed to have a date, but he got one anyway. He came with Asta’s friend, Amana, another cheerleader. But he’s mainly with her on the premise that she did really want a date, and she’d go with anyone who at least had some association with the higher end of the social hierarchy at school. Zushi is just a sophomore and plays one of the ends, but he has quarterback potential in the future. 

 

It’s already half an hour into the start of the dance, but the band is still setting up, so they’ve only been playing some random pop music playlist on the speakers so far. Luckily, the gym is also a makeshift auditorium, since it has a stage about a meter high off the ground. There isn’t as much wiggle room behind the curtains as the theater, but it’s still the better place to hold weekly assemblies. 

 

Killua hasn’t seen Lay among the rest of the band that’s setting up their instruments yet, but he’s guessing that she’s handling all the plugins and techie stuff backstage, since that’s her usual thing. But he could care less at the moment, since Asta has finally decided she wants to dance, even if the actual band isn’t playing yet. “I love this song.” she announces when some radio edit Beyonce song starts playing. 

 

After a couple of songs though, the playlist finally stops, and the band is doing a last couple of sound checks on their instruments. The mild cacophony of drums and guitars and piano keys catches everyone’s attention, and soon the majority of the Homecoming attendees are facing the stage with anticipating eyes. 

 

When Lay walks out onto the stage, Killua can barely get his brain to recognize that it’s the same girl who he had struck a deal with. Not only are her glasses gone, but she got some highlights in her hair, which has also been lightly curled and falls down in waves. The only thing about her style that hints back at the girl who works in theater tech is the fact that she’s wearing black. 

 

She’s got a sleeveless button-up blouse on, that has a sheer cutoff starting just above her breasts. Her shorts and combat boots are just a shade darker than her top, and she’s got a mesh skirt on top of the shorts with a longer train trailing behind her back. The only jewelry she wears is a silver bracelet on one wrist and some studded earrings to match. And she topped it all off with a fedora on her head. 

 

When she lifts her head to adjust the microphone in front of her center stage, her makeup is done lightly, if at all. And then she starts clapping. A slow starting rhythm that the rest of the band wordlessly follows, until Dwun starts keeping the beat with his drums. And soon, Jispa starts playing a couple of chords to follow up, until he lets it fade back into just the drums. And finally, Lay starts [singing](https://youtu.be/9QkmtkKOcI4?t=1m21s).

 

The entire song just picks up on more and more energy and spreads it throughout the room as her voice gets louder. Her voice is incredibly smooth and her stage presence is popping. She looks so natural strutting around onstage, tilting the mic stand here and there, flirting with the band and the crowd, as if she’s been doing this all her life. 

 

“Nervous, my ass.” Killua mutters to himself. 

 

When she throws her fedora into the crowd during a short but dramatic pause in the song, everyone in the room goes crazy. And the feeling is likely mutual within the crowd when she sings her last lines, wishing that it wouldn’t be over so quickly. Killua is too dumbstruck to react with the rest of the crowd, but even if he wasn’t, he doesn’t know if he could just let go like that. Not when he knows that it’s Layla Bellamy, the tech geek, up there. 

 

After taking a breath, she returns to center stage with her mic in her hand, “Hope you guys didn’t wait too long. Thanks for having The Getters here for Homecoming. I’m just filling in here as interim lead singer, so I hope you’ll make do with me tonight.” The response comes in a generous cheer from the crowd.

 

“Alright, good crowd!” Lay muses, “Then without further ado, let’s get this dance started.” 

 

Everyone barely has time to cheer before the next song has started up. The excitement keeps up for a little while as Lay continues singing some energetic and impressive songs with lots of high notes, and a lot of the mob stays gathered at the stage for a while as if they’re at a concert. But eventually, pairs and groups of people start moving back out onto the dance floor to dance among themselves. 

 

Killua just followed wherever Asta wanted to go, so he went through the makeshift pit as well as the dance floor as the night wore on. At some point, several of the guys on the football team come up to him, wondering about the dance that Lay wanted. Some of them seem more excited about it than ever now that they see an attractive stage performer before their eyes instead of the backstage hand they had always perceived. 

 

Palm proves that she’s actually capable of taking breaks when Gon brings her and some drinks for the two over to the table that the football team has been hoarding all night in shifts. “Killua, this is great!” Gon shouts above the noise, “Lay’s so good!” 

 

“Yeah… I… didn’t even know.” he replies slowly, still processing how Lay is as much of a queen onstage as her mother. It might take him the whole night. 

 

“Has she danced with whoever she wanted to dance with already?” Palm asks. She heard the story from Gon, since it was possible -- even  _ likely _ \-- that her date would be the one Lay asked. Gon was the quarterback, the star of the team, not to mention a huge charmer, whether he means to be or not. 

 

Killua is has probably seen dozens of people fall in love with Gon right before his eyes in the past several years that they’ve known each other. In fact, when Lay had mentioned the one dance thing with whoever, Gon had already been his first guess. 

 

“Don’t think so, not yet.” Barry mentions, “Has she even left the stage yet tonight?” 

 

“Maybe once. Gotta have some bathroom breaks and time to rest up her voice.” Rodriot guesses. 

 

But the rest of the night goes on, and no one seems to be asked for a dance from Lay. She’s definitely taken a couple of breaks throughout the night, but she never appeared anywhere to approach any of the guys to dance. 

 

And soon, the last song is being played and Killua hasn’t seen any of the football players with a giddy or smug expression whenever he returned to the table. Homecoming comes to an end, Lay and The Getters leave the stage, and the remaining students are filed out of the gym by the teacher chaperones. 

 

“What the hell, Killua. That was a bust.” Phinks complains.

 

“Weren’t you the one going about how you didn’t go for nerds?” Knuckle punches him. 

 

“Yo, tonight she was anything but a nerd. I would’ve provided much more than just a dance with that girl that was onstage tonight.” he argues. 

 

Killua drives Asta home on his motorcycle, understanding where Phinks may be coming from. He can’t help but feel confused at the turnout of events this evening. When Killua makes it to Asta’s house, she climbs off of his bike and the two pull off their helmets to say their last words of goodnight. The farewell extends as the two start making out and even engage in some light petting, but Killua declines when Asta invites him to stay the night. “Kay, I’ll see you on Monday, then.” she says as she turns to walk up her driveway to her house.

 

“Night.” Killua waits until Asta is inside the house before driving off again.

  
  
  


*

  
  


As much as Killua likes calcium, he prefers not to have milk spilling out of his nostrils or spat all over his face. But in the same split moment, several of the boys at the lunch table happened to be sipping on their milk or chewing on something else when Zushi revealed that he was the one who had danced with Lay the evening of Homecoming. 

 

“You what??” Killua coughs, “When did you do that? I was practically with you the entire night!” 

 

“Oh, well Layla-- I mean, Lay caught me when I went to get punch for me and Amana when she went off to the bathroom. I’m pretty sure it was around the first half of the evening.” Zushi scratches his head, “Maybe even the first third.” 

 

“Do you remember which song?” Jeet asks. 

 

“No, actually. We were kind of talking the whole time.” Zushi chuckles awkwardly, “She did say she’d dedicate one of the songs she sang later on to me though.” 

 

More spitting and choking on food and drink. “Did she tell you which one?” Gon asks curiously, the calmest out of the entire group. 

 

“Dude, was it that really romantic slow song about starlight or moonlight or some shit? She was super into that one.” Phinks mentions, almost seeming to drift off. 

 

Zushi chuckles again, “No, it was one of the happier songs. Although I guess it was technically also a love song.” 

 

“Wait, how did we not see you with her though? She should have been easily recognizable in the crowd regardless.” Franklin is the one who asks. 

 

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like we anywhere well hidden.” Zushi ponders, “Wonder if it has anything to do with her glasses.”

 

“Her glasses?” Killua pipes up. “She wasn’t wearing them though.”

 

“Well not onstage, she wasn’t. Actually, she told me that she was performing practically blind the entire night.” Zushi explains. 

 

“What??” 

 

“Yeah, she took them off for the entire performance as a coping mechanism, apparently. Said that the main reason she hadn’t wanted to perform with the band in the first place was because she gets incredible stage fright. Hard to believe, huh? After that amazing performance.” Zushi smiles. 

 

“No fucking kidding.” Killua doesn’t know why he suddenly feels angry. So her nervousness was actually real? To the point where she had to handicap herself in order to cope with her stage fright? She should’ve said something earlier.

 

“But yeah,” Zushi continues, “She put her glasses back on when she showed up to the dance floor and found me. But she took them back off when she went back onstage.”

 

While everyone else is reeling in their own thoughts and disbeliefs at the situation, that the tiny end player got the girl that evening, Gon is still the only coherent one at the table, “So what’d you guys talk about? Well, other than the glasses thing.” 

 

“Mm… Not too much, it was only one dance. She kind of rushed in the middle of our second song so she could sing the other half of the duet that was playing.” Zushi chews on his carrots, “We started talking about how her mom put her through a bunch of singing and dancing classes before, which is probably why she’s so good on stage, and she asked about my karate stuff. I had a really good time, actually.” 

 

Zushi has the cutest and most innocent face of the entire football team, so they kind of treat him like the baby a lot of the time. But this time, no one hesitates to bring the sophomore into a headlock and rub their knuckles into his head or give him playful punches, “Well ain’t that just awesome for you!” several of the guys taunt him as he struggles to escape their grip. 

 

“Did you ask why she chose you?” Knuckle asks the question that everyone is dying to know the answer to.

 

“Didn’t get the chance.” Zushi pushes Phinks’ arms off of him before sitting again, “I was going to talk to her today at homeroom, since hers is close to mine, but she was surrounded by people today, so all I could do was say hi.”

 

“Makes sense. A nameless techie suddenly becomes the star of homecoming, that’s going to get everyone’s attention.” Killua turns back to his sandwich after having cleaned off all the chewed food and milk off his face. 

 

“So, you think she has a thing for you? Based on that one dance you had?” Surprisingly, Gon is the one who asks this time. And although his expression gives nothing away, there’s a shyness about his question in the way he asks it. If Killua hadn’t been best friends with him since middle school, he definitely wouldn’t have noticed something so subtle that its existence could be questionable. 

 

“How could I possibly know that?” Zushi chuckles, suddenly looking flustered as he waives off the possibility as if he hadn’t considered it in the first place, “I mean, all we did was talk. It’s not like she was making moves on me or anything.” 

 

“Well, she did go through with performing blind onstage for three hours and ignoring her apparent stage fright for this one dance.” Knuckle points out, “You can’t ignore the possibility. If she wanted to talk to you so bad that she’d throw herself out into a position that she had blatantly refused for a over a week, then she’s gotta have some reason.”

 

“In a usual case, I’d agree.” Zushi nods, “But I don’t know. It’s just something about how casual she was, or wanted to be at least. I thought maybe she just really wanted to be friends for a while, but never had an opportunity to until now.”

 

More debate is thrown back and forth about Lay for the rest of the lunch hour, and some guys even wonder if she’ll ever perform for any school events again. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“No.” is Lay’s answer when the president of the sociology club comes up to her about performing at the feminism seminar they’re planning to hold.

 

“Aw, Lay, come ooonn.” Amane pouts, “You used to be a member of the club. Don’t you want to help us out just the slightest? Everyone loved you at Homecoming last month. Some people are still talking about you now! It’d be a great way to get the word out and to increase the turnout!”

 

“Just ask the band to do it. They got their name out there too, didn’t they?” Lay groans, not wanting to deal with this again. 

 

Amane sighs, “Lay, everyone knows that you were the star of the show that night. Most of the school still doesn’t know all of the band members’ names. We really want this seminar to be a hit, and you’re our best shot to get people to care enough to come.”

 

“Amane... Wouldn’t those people be coming to the seminar for the wrong reason then?” Lay challenges.

 

“Doesn’t matter. We just want numbers for now. If you perform at the end, everyone will stay ‘til the end of all the discussion!” 

 

“I see your point, but no. Appreciate the thought, though.” Lay begins to turn away. 

 

“Ugh, Lay!” Amane huffs again, “Fine, but if you ever change your mind, please tell me.”

 

“Not gonna happen, but will do.” Lay raises and cocks two fingers into the air beside her to bid Amane farewell. 

  
  


*

  
  


Not a day later, Lay runs into Zushi in the hallway after classes have ended. “Hey, Layla.” he greets her when she closes her locker door.

 

“Zushi!” she jumps, caught by surprise, “Uhm, hey. I already told you to just call me Lay.” 

 

“Oh, right! My bad. Sorry, Lay.” Lay has to bite her lip to keep from smiling at the sound of her name coming out of Zushi’s mouth. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you how awesome you did at Homecoming the other day. You’ve been getting a lot of fame as of lately.”

 

Lay groans at the reminder, “Tell me about it. I’ve been getting invites to sing or perform or have my clothes borrowed or a signature from my mom ever since. It’s such a pain.” she sighs and takes a pause, “Can’t say I regret doing it though.” she smiles at Zushi.

 

“Oh yeah, about that. How come you chose me out of everyone else on the football team to dance with? In all honesty, not even I had expected that.” he finally brings up.

 

“Come on, Zushi. You’re cool. I like you. You’re probably the most level-headed guy on the team. Also, how could I possibly ignore that adorable face and those impressive eyebrows of yours?” Lay laughs, playfully pinching one of his cheeks. 

 

Zushi chuckles back, “Well, thanks I guess. Everyone was super jealous of me. They hadn’t noticed until I told them, actually.”

 

“You see? Bozos didn’t even know. Puts you a peg above them, Zushi.” Lay pats a hand on his shoulder, “Anyway, are you headed to karate practice or something?” she uses her chin to gesture at his gi. 

 

“Yeah, but later. I have to talk to Wing about something. He wants me to go to some sociology club event being held next week, since he’s the sponsor. Even offered me extra credit.”

 

“The feminism seminar?” Lay’s eyes widen.

 

“Oh yeah, you heard about it?” Zushi smiles, “Are you going too?”

 

“Well… yeah.” Lay says before she can stop herself, “I uh… used to be part of the club.” 

 

“Cool. Maybe we’ll see each other there, yeah? I can save you a seat if you want.” 

 

“S-Sounds good. Thanks.” 

 

Zushi holds his fist up at her and Lay bumps it with her own before the boy walks off in the direction of the social studies department. 

 

A minute later, while Lay is on her way back to the auditorium for theater tech, she calls Amane, “Hey, still need a headliner?” 


	3. Brave Honest Beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> guess who's going to the sociology club's feminism seminar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a late update, so sorry to the small handful of you who are actually reading this as i go along. i'll try have the next one up in a couple days. also, this chapter was heavily built on my Fifth Harmony phase, as i'm sure you'll be able to tell.

The day after, the sociology club has flyers posted around the school, with some hand-sized ones to pass out. Amane, who’s the sociology club president and happens to be in Killua’s homeroom class, makes the announcement to the homeroom about the upcoming feminism seminar on Friday, “I hope you guys can come. If any of you remember Lay Bellamy, who performed with the school rock band at Homecoming, she’ll be performing at our event as well! I’ll leave the flyers here if you’re interested.” 

 

Once Amane has returned to her seat, which is only a row away from where Killua usually sits, the football players leans over to ask, “Wait, Amane. You got Lay to perform for your thing?” 

 

“Yeah, somehow.” she smiles, “At first, she said no but the next day, she called me saying she changed her mind.”

 

“What the hell, why?” Killua is beyond confused. The Lay that he knows and has interacted with would never have agreed to performing for the school again. The first time was already more effort than Killua had ever imagined he it would be, and she even said something about not wanting to be judged based on her family, not to mention that stage-fright thing Zushi mentioned.

 

Zushi. 

 

Did he have something to do with Lay’s sudden change of heart again? It was the ultimatum that she made with Killua the first time. It’s a strange thought, but he pays it no more mind as the rest of the morning trudges on, until lunch comes.

 

“Coach has been nagging us a lot about that new formation, huh?” 

 

The boys at the lunch table have jumped onto the topic of practice per the daily routine. “Yeah, this time, our ends have got some big responsibilities, huh?’ Knuckle throws his arm around Zushi’s neck to wring him in. The smaller boy struggles to free himself from his friend’s headlock, but manages somehow, “I’ll try to hold up my end.” he coughs, “You guys hold up yours.”

 

There’s more jerking around until Gon has to pull them apart, “Save it for practice today, guys. Jesus.” 

 

“Oh yeah, about that. I can’t today.” Zushi mentions, “Wing’s making me go to the sociology club’s feminism seminar after school today for my extra credit.”

 

Killua’s neurons snap in his brain at the immediate connection. “The one that Lay’s performing at?” 

 

“Oh yeah! I saw the flyers around today. She told me last time that she was going, but she never mentioned that she’d be onstage. That’s so cool.” Zushi smiles. 

 

So that’s why Lay agreed to perform again. To impress a certain audience member. 

 

“Lay’s performing again?” Phinks asks, “Dude, let’s go.” he shakes Knuckle’s arm. 

 

“I’m in.”

 

A couple other guys jump in on the train as well, and Gon looks to Killua, “Let’s go, too.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Well, I mean half the team isn’t coming to practice now, so I don’t see the harm in taking the day off.” Gon isn’t looking directly at him, so Killua has reason to suspect the true intent of his explanation, “Plus, Lay’s performing. She’s like, a natural-born star, ya know? I had a lot of fun at Homecoming, so maybe this’ll be fun too.” 

 

After Killua begrudging agrees to tag along, he ironically runs into Lay at the lockers during on of the passing periods later that day, “S’up, Zoldyck.” she greets as she opens her locker a few doors down from his. 

 

“Hey.” he returns in a deadpan voice, unable to find a reason for why he sounds so irritable, “Heard you’re performing again for the sociology club thing.” 

 

“Yeah, got roped into it somehow, but I have my reasons.” she replies. 

 

“Do your reasons normally entail short guys with thick eyebrows.” Killua says before he realizes.

 

Lay actually freezes at that. Killua had expected a lot of reactions, a witty retort, maybe an insult, but not hesitation. “Don’t see how that’s any of your business.” she finally mumbles.

 

“It is when he takes over half of the team with him to watch you sing instead of coming to practice.” he mumbles back.

 

“That’s on them, not me. I’m just helping Amane spread some publicity for the club.” she swings her restocked backpack somewhat angrily onto her back.

 

“By riding off your mom’s coattails now that your ‘secret’s’ out?” What the hell does he keep spewing. Is there a way to clean up or rewind his word vomit?

 

“What is your problem?” Lay looks angry now. It’s a valid question. What is his problem? Why is he so instigative today? 

 

“Nothing.” he shrugs, “Just, after what you said, about not wanting to be judged based on who your family is, I’m just surprised that you’d drop all that to get at Zushi. He’s a nice guy. You could’ve just asked him out or something.” he closes his locker with a resounding stiffness to his words.

 

“What are you talking about? Nothing has changed about any of that. Stop trying to make it sound like I’m giving up my integrity over a boy.” Somehow, the fact that she doesn’t deny that Zushi does have something to do with this conversation continues buzzing in the back of his mind. “I don’t know why you’re making all these fucking accusations about me for doing this, but get over it. Don’t come to the fucking seminar if you don’t want to, or do. Whatever.” With a slam of her locker, she power walks off to her next class, leaving Killua to simmer in his thoughts.

  
  


*

  
  


The sociology club’s feminism seminar has to be moved from the relatively large music classroom to the gym, since the auditorium is being prepared for the upcoming play. It takes a while for the chairs to be set up into their two large sections in order to leave a walkway in the middle, so the seminar doesn’t begin until over forty minutes after the intended schedule. 

 

And since the transition created a mess, everyone is bustling in the crowd at the moment as the seats are filled. But like a school bell, a pop beat chimes through the gym, and a voice slowly brings everyone to attention. It’s obvious that Lay is the one singing, but she’s not on stage, she everyone is looking around curiously until the culprit herself appears from the back of the gym with a microphone in her hands. And she continues singing as she makes her way down the middle of the walkway.

 

The lyrics at first sound like praise to whoever she’s addressing, describing a gorgeous person whose aura can’t be held back or turned away. And then she breaks out into the [lyrics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg8s1mb4ekw), “Boy, I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout you, I’m talkin’ to my own reflection.” 

 

Killua is sitting next to Gon and a couple of the other guys from the team who dragged him along to this event because they heard Lay would be performing. Zushi had already planned on coming and was glad that some team members were joining him. “I wonder if she can actually see this time.” he’s chuckling, but he also looks kind of nervous. 

 

Watching as she continues singing and basically eye-fucking the audience, Killua would guess that she probably can’t. She isn’t wearing her glasses but there’s no way to tell whether or not she’s wearing contacts. Her confidence hasn’t wavered from the last time she performed, so he suspects that she needed to use the same cheat to get that way. 

 

Her outfit is much more casual comparing to the one she wore to Homecoming, of course. She’s still got her black concept though; she’s got a black and white flannel open to show the back tank top she’s wearing underneath. But she’s wearing some regular black skinny jeans and some traditional black converses. A good, simple look for her, he admits. 

 

She finishes her first song and pauses after the music stops before greeting the crowd’s clapping, “What’s up, everyone. I’m Lay Bellamy, and you may know me from Homecoming. How you all doing tonight?” 

 

Some lackluster responses, “It’s cool, it’s a sociology seminar, so don’t sweat the energy too much. It’ll build up once we’re getting deep into it. So without further ado, I’m gonna hand it over to the sociology club president, Amane.”

 

Amane walks up to the stage and takes the mic from Lay before introducing herself and thanking everyone for coming out, “This is a better turnout than I could have ever expected, and I’m assuming have Lay to thank for that. So let’s give her a hand, yeah?” 

 

Some claps. 

 

“I know a lot of you may not be interested in social problems or feminism, but I had to use a little incentive to get everyone to come and be introduced to some inside perspectives and stories on this topic. And I’m so glad so many of you came out. And even if you’re only here to see Lay, I don’t mind, I’m just glad you came.” she gets a couple of laughs out of that one. 

 

She goes on about how Lay will be performing her full set at the end of the seminar, as well as the procedural layout of the talk tonight. Originally, it was intended for an easily facilitated discussion, but with the increased amount of people, the speakers may have to stand atop the stage now. 

 

The talk starts off with introductory explanations and details in history about women and how they have been treated up until this point. A few speakers who prepared their own discussion topics come up to the stage and talk about their own experiences or stories they’ve heard about to highlight the severity of inequality. 

 

When Amane returns to the the stage to invite experiences that audience members might want to share, there don’t seem to be any takers. Most of the sociology club members had already given their spiel and didn’t seem to want to overwhelm the audience. Lay eventually steps up and takes one of the microphones offered to her, and all the attention turns to her as she shares her internalized beliefs of always fighting to help those who need help from her mother. 

 

“As a lot of you may know now, Sala Bel is my mom. And a lot of you must know about her activist position in a lot of social issues. As someone who’s gained a lot of wealth and fame through her career, she could easily sit back and ignore all those who are less fortunate than she is because none of these social problems directly affect her. But even though they don't affect her directly, she still fulfills her civic duty of fighting for those who don’t have equal opportunities. 

 

“She still has friends and family who still suffer from getting lower pay than their male coworkers, who aren’t shown respect as they walk down the street, who are blamed for not preparing enough to prevent getting raped, who have all kinds of injustices and blamed for the inconceivable because they were born with vaginas. 

 

“And just as my mother uses her influence to raise awareness and promote feminism as well as other issues, I encourage all of you to do the same. I hope that if you leave this seminar with anything, it’s at least awareness. And if you want to go further, join a march, association, make a donation, whatever it is, more power to you. Just don’t stop spreading this.” 

 

With a small thank you, she hands the microphone back to List, and sits back down. After a round of applause, Amane directs the conversation back to the floor, and out of nowhere, Gon Freecs stands up. His teammates and the rest of the student body alike look at him with wide eyes as he accepts the microphone from List. Killua, who had been in a relaxed slouch is suddenly a little straighter in his chair as his best friend stands up. 

 

“Hi, I’m Gon.” he starts awkwardly, “Well, as you can see, I’m not a woman, so I don’t know how entitled I am to say all this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love women.” he says brightly and gets a couple of laughs from the crowd, “But I do agree that women do deserve more than what they have as of right now. My aunt is one of the most caring, hard-working, wonderful women I know, and I could clearly see how she was breaking her back day and night to take care of me and the rest of our family. She’s a teacher and she puts a ton of effort into every single one of her students, and I think there isn’t a person in the world I admire more than her. 

 

“So to think that other people would try to look for ways to mistreat hard-working people like my Aunt Mito, it really grinds on my nerves. I think I’ve realized by coming to this talk that I’ve been born with a privilege that I’ve lived with my entire life, and it sucks that amazing women like anyone sitting in this room might not get the same opportunities as me later on. 

 

“Like Lay said, it’s important to use whatever influence you have to spread these messages. I mean, a lot of people - myself, included - probably came here because Lay was going to perform again, and I’m really grateful for that now, because I think I’ve gotten a lot out of coming here. So I guess, as a guy, I’ll try to do whatever I can to promote feminism from now on. And… yeah, thanks.” 

 

The applause is much louder now that a school idol has made a speech. The quarterback’s influence is incredible, because suddenly a lot of people are speaking up now. Killua had underestimated the power of the jock. That was the most intelligent thing Gon had said in years. “How the hell did you come up with all that?” he had asked. 

 

Gon just laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head, “Got kind of caught up in the moment.” 

 

Eventually, the seminar comes to a close, much later than expected, but it’s better than the sociology club could ever have hoped. And Lay returns to the stage, “Well, the seminar’s over, so you can leave if you don’t want to listen to me sing girl power songs up here for the next half hour. Thanks for coming out though.” 

 

After disappearing behind the stage to set up her playlist, she returns and sees that everyone’s still seated and looking quite excited, “You know, I don’t really get why you guys are so interested in listening to me do karaoke up here, but I guess I’ll have to go with it.” 

 

With a press of a small remote button that she then slips into her pocket, she starts stomping a little to the heavy trumpet beat of the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY3rIlrTTh8) that plays before singing. 

 

She makes big movements on stage, gets the audience hyped up, and even jumps off of the stage to walk around the gym to interact with different students as she continues. The atmosphere starts to warm up to her energy, and eventually some people start singing along.

 

This continues on for a couple of songs, until Lay ends up on stage again, this time singing a bit of a sexier song. 

 

 

And when she reaches the second chorus, she struts up to the line of football players who are some of her most active cheerleaders right now. 

 

“There’s only two types of guys out there, ones that can hang with me,” she puts a hand on Gon’s shoulder before leaning down to give Killua a teasing [smirk](https://youtu.be/lVhJ_A8XUgc?t=1m37s), “And ones that are scared.” And she’s gone before Killua can show her his clenched teeth and fire in his eyes. 

 

He vaguely sees her point a flirty finger gun at Zushi before walking down the line of audience members again. Gon laughs good-naturedly, although he’s got a nervous look on his face as he puts a hand on Killua’s shoulder as if to say ‘she’s just teasing you,’ but Killua just huffs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. 

 

But once of the bridge comes on, there’s a musical interlude and all of a sudden, random audience members from different ends of the gym start standing up, either running up to the stage or start dancing in sync to Lay, who’s in the middle aisle. As she reaches the end of the interlude, she’s up by the stage again, where she sticks her arms out for two dancers to lift her back up onto the stage in a fell swoop. And she continues to sing as if she’s used to being hoisted up backwards every day. 

 

And her stage continues on like that as well. No one can take their eyes away, or help themselves from cheering or singing along. For her last two songs after that, she performs some choreographed dances with her crew, showing off her performer’s blood and now not-so-hidden abilities. 

 

There are even shouts for encores, but Lay just yells, “Get out already! You’re all gonna miss dinner or something!” 

 

While everyone is filing out of the gym, Zushi announces that he’s going to stay back for a little while to commend Lay, and Gon convinces Killua to join. Well, most of the team who had shown up to the seminar stayed back, so Killua didn’t want to look weird leaving without them. 

 

After the small huddle with the sociology club, Lay, and Wing, their sponsor, they disperse to start putting away all the chairs they had set up. Lay walks up to the waiting boys, flickering between excited and cautious eyes, “Hey guys. Thanks for coming out tonight. And for all your… loud support during the performance.” She has her glasses on now, so he must have guessed right. That’s some incredible determination she has, Killua has to admit. 

 

“You were awesome up there!” Zushi says first, and several of the other guys follow up with their own compliments, enough so that Lay starts to look overwhelmed. “I can’t believe you even brought a dance crew with you. That was incredible!” Zushi laughs.

 

“Thank you, thank you.” she puts her hands up to calm them, “Thank you, they were some friends from the dance academy I go to. They were happy to help out the cause. I’m really glad you guys enjoyed it. And Gon,” the quarterback stands at attention, “Thank you, for sharing today. It really made an impact during the seminar today. I don’t think it would have continued on as well as it did if you hadn’t spoken up.” 

 

And then Gon puts on his most charming smile, the one he uses whenever he’s about to woo a girl, or knock her out with one of his best pickup lines, “Yeah, no problem. For someone as awesome as you, I’d join any cause you’re supporting.” 

 

If anyone notices the subtle flirting, they don’t point it out. Lay just laughs and thanks him again, as well as the others for staying back to talk to her. Killua doesn’t miss how she subtly averts her eyes from him. “Anyway, we gotta get cleaned up in here. So you guys are free to head out. It was such an awesome success today, I couldn’t even believe it.”

 

“Oh, I’ll help out.” Zushi offers immediately, and Lay’s shoulders seem to melt a little as her eyes light up.

 

“Really? You’re the best.” she smiles. 

 

And before they know it, the rest of the football team is helping the sociology club clean up the rest of the gym. They all eventually make it out of the school by 8pm, and always quick on his feet, Gon asks Lay if she wants a ride home. 

 

Killua doesn’t know why he feels relieved when she declines his offer because she’s going out to eat with the sociology club to celebrate the successful seminar. But Gon doesn’t let her leave without a last word of, “Maybe next time then.” 

 

“Yeah, for sure. Thanks again.” she waves goodbye to him and the others. 


	4. Get the Party Started

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gon gets a little more proactive. And Killua gets more annoyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, SOME ACTION. well, not action, but development. hopefully it'll get a little more exciting from here on out. 
> 
> Also, P!nk throwback, ayyy.

Gon often stops by Lay’s table at lunch now to say hi to her on his way to their own table, and Killua can't really find an excuse to walk away from the situation only to end up at the same destination, so he just walks on Gon’s other side and looks away. Sometimes he's pulled into the short conversation, but the tension between him and Lay is still there. He often tries to make an excuse to head over to the table first so Gon can have his conversations freely. 

 

This has been happening a lot recently, Gon talking (flirting) with Lay and her allowing it because she doesn't know any better and can't pick up on the signs. It frustrates Killua in so many ways; in that Gon is so infatuated with Lay now, that she can't tell that Gon is infatuated with her despite his best friend’s efforts, that she's basically leading him on without knowing it, and that maybe Gon is the one taking advantage of her obliviousness to find the right opportunity to strike. The most annoying thing of all is that Killua feels a weird discomfort in his chest when he sees his best friend wanting that girl. And that girl being totally fine with it. 

 

Of course there's always the theory that she's into Zushi and will probably not give in to Gon’s charms so easily. But then again, Gon is Gon and he could charm even the most irritable, unrelenting teachers and girls that Killua has ever seen. So who's to say that Lay won't get over Zushi once she gets to know Gon? And with that boy’s efforts so far, Killua is sure the day will come. 

 

But why is he so bothered by all of it? Why does he feel such discontent in seeing Gon and Lay smiling and laughing together from halfway across the cafeteria? Gon mindlessly babbles about her without realizing it, which is a habit that comes out of him when he's really into something. 

 

Maybe it's Gon’s focus that's caused this shift in comfort in Killua. He really doesn't need to hear about Lay all day, and he doesn't really like sharing his best friend. Killua knew how possessive he was when he wouldn't share his toys as a child, and he hasn't really liked seeing all the girls who Gon has been with before hogging all of his best friend’s time. So this must be another case like that. 

 

Or that's what Killua hopes it is, at least. 

  
  


***

  
  


Lay is pretty conscious of how much Gon talks to her now. Ever since the dance, and the seminar, Gon has been coming up to talk to her at lunch, in the hallways, after school if they happen to cross paths, as if they've been friends forever. It's not hard to tell, especially with friends as squealy as some of hers, that Gon is probably interested in her. 

 

Who wouldn't be? After they find out that she can sing and perform and that she's a daughter of one of the most popular entertainers out there, who wouldn't see or even look for some charm in her?She doesn't want to give Gon the wrong idea, but she gets pulled into his charm so easily. He does it so naturally and she always enjoys the conversation, so it's not like she can turn him away when he's just being friendly.

 

After all, she still has Zushi. Or well, she has a thing for him. When her friends found out that he was the main reason for her resistance to Gon’s advances, they were beyond surprised. 

 

“That guy who walks around in his martial arts uniform all day? He’s so puny!” 

 

“Excuse you,” Lay had retorted, “He's been training a lot recently, and he's graduated from his use of sleeves.  _ And _ he sports the most magnificent arms I have ever seen on a sophomore.” 

 

“True, and he does have some impressive eyebrows.” one friend had acknowledged. 

 

“And he gives off that vibe of good impressions. Definitely a take home to mama kind of boy.” another contemplated. 

 

“I’d still choose Gon in a heartbeat though,” another friend had piped up, “Gon has all of those things. Like, minus the eyebrows, but come on honey, that boy is so fine. I really don't get your taste.”

 

“But hey, maybe when you hang out with him today, you'll change your mind.” one friend wiggles their eyebrows. 

 

“Wait, what? Oh  _ shit _ ! Damn it! Got caught up in his pace again, ugh.” Lay had been talking to Gon about food and Gon mentioned a new smoothie place he's been meaning to check out. It was the same one Lay had heard about but hasn't had time to go to, since it's a bit far out. 

 

That was when Gon had so smoothly suggested to stop by when their after school activities were finished so they could see what all the hype is about. She had agreed as easily as if the words were part of the air she breathed, and only then did she realize it was almost a date, depending on how you looked at it. 

 

So now here she is, in Gon’s car as he drives them to the smoothie shop across town. He had waited for her outside of the auditorium so they could walk to his car together. The scene was gossip-inducing, and she probably wouldn't hear the end of it tomorrow. 

 

“Yeah, I don't get all the hostility towards organic innovation.” Lay speaks over the soft rock music playing on the stereo, “I mean, they'll go to Jamba Juice any day for a juice fix, but whenever I mention cleanses or weird alternatives, they just write me off as a hipster and don't wanna hear more about it. I mean, it's at least worth a try, isn't it?”

 

“Yeah, I agree. I personally didn't think too much about it until coach started having us maintain our diets, and that’s when I had to start watching all my sugar intake and stuff. But I do think it's more about the concept or liking what's popular and ‘in’ rather than expanding your horizon of experiences.” Gon rallies the conversation with her. 

 

He's quite profound for what Lay would expect from a typical football player. They talk so easily to each other, and it doesn't feel unnatural for even a second. Even their silences are comfortable. 

 

Before they know it, they're at the smoothie shop and Gon pays for her before she can even take her wallet out. “Foul play. I call for a redo.” she complains when they head over to a table to wait for their drinks. 

 

“That's not really how it works,” Gon laughs, “But maybe you'll get it next time.” 

 

Lay scoffs, “As if you'd let me.” 

 

Before Gon can retort, their number is called and Lay jumps up to retrieve their drinks. She hands Gon his smoothie and they both take a sip at the same time, and hum simultaneously. “So good.” she coos. 

 

“Yeah, seriously. Wanna try?” he offers his drink to her, and she eagerly takes a sip from his straw. She hums in delight and offers her own drink to Gon, letting him subsequently have a taste of hers. She doesn't notice the small smile on Gon’s face when he ducks down to take a sip. 

 

They talk at the smoothie shop at the table for a while, laughing at each other’s stories and teasing each other every now and then. Then Gon has a suggestion, “Hey, wanna go out to the park or something and play catch?” 

 

“Catch?” Lay laughs at the sudden suggestion, “Like with a football?”

 

“Yeah, why not? I'll even teach you the rules of the game and we can have a little squirmish.” 

 

Lay is hesitant about it, but follows Gon to the park anyway. She fumbles a lot but about ten minutes into it, she's gotten the hang of catching the ball and can even throw a decent spiral. That's when Gon starts explaining to her the different positions of the players on the team. She follows all of his positions and instructions, and Gon is taken aback at how easily she bends over for him. 

 

“Like this?” she leans over with the football in her hands, ready to snap the ball back to Gon. And he can't help but notice and appreciate the curve of her jeans against her body. 

 

“Yeah, now snap it back to me, and go long.” He shouts a code of numbers that Lay doesn't understand and she tosses it between her legs and dashes off into the grassy field, looking back when she thinks she's far enough. Obviously she can't reach the maximum distance of Gon’s throw, but she does her best not to keep him waiting. 

 

Gon throws the ball and Lay jogs towards its general direction. It hits her hands once and she fumbles a little but manages to keep it in her hands. And she's running farther because she sees Gon sprinting towards her in an almost aggressive pace. She shouts in surprise before turning and running in another direction. 

 

Gon plays chase and eventually catches up to her, practically tackling her with his arms in a back hug. But the collision was too strong and they both end up on the ground anyway, laughing. 

 

The rest of the afternoon plays on like that, with a little throw and chase and some playful hugs. They leave the park when it starts to get dark and Gon announces he should probably be home for dinner soon. 

 

“You eat dinner with your family every night?” Lay asks as they walk back to the car. 

 

“Yeah, Aunt Mito is big on that. We don't hear the end of it when we call in to say we're not coming home for dinner.” 

 

“That's so sweet. I mean, I guess it could be a little annoying at times, but it's still very sweet.” Lay smiles. She hasn't had a whole family dinner in a while. 

 

“Thanks. I'm guessing since your mom’s so busy, you don't get to do the same all the time?” 

 

“It's not like they never come home, but when they do, it's pretty late. And there are days when mom’s doing shows in other cities and whatnot, so I don't see her for weeks at a time. And my dad… well he’s around but he kind of just does his own thing.” Lay explains, “But it's not terrible. They spent a lot of time with me when I was younger, so I wasn't short on love or anything.” 

 

They continue to get to know each other and their families on the drive to Lay’s house. When they reach her driveway, all she says is, “Thanks for today, Gon. I'll see you tomorrow.” before opening the door. 

 

“Yeah, for sure.” Gon responds automatically, although somewhat disappointed that he missed a chance. He had so much fun today, and thought maybe there was something developing between them. But he's not one to give up, so he'll keep trying. It won't be long. 

  
  


***

  
  


At lunch another day, Gon sulks over to the lunch table and just starts eating without a word. “What's with you?” Phinks asks with a raised eyebrow. 

 

“He probably got his precalc test back today.” Killua infers with a bite of sandwich still in his mouth. After washing it down with a soda, he asks, “Didn't you study those notes I gave you?” 

 

“Yeah, but I can't study if I don't know what I’m reading.” Gon grumbles bitterly. 

 

“Why didn't you just ask? We could have studied together.” Killua says. 

 

“And what did you get on your test?” Gon challenges. 

 

“Higher than you, that’s for sure.” Killua replies boredly. “I'm gonna get the test back in the afternoon. We can just go over it together and we can turn in some corrections for an extra couple points.” 

 

Gon breathes a loud sigh, “Fine.” 

 

Later that afternoon, when Killua leaves his precalc class, Gon happens to be passing by from his own class, “Hey, how'd you do?” 

 

“Not too bad, got a high B, but got confused with the word problems.” 

 

“Ugh, those always suck. But how am I supposed to turn in corrections if you didn't even get them?” Gon groans. 

 

Just then, Lay walks out of the same classroom staring at her own test. Gon greets her immediately, “Lay, hey.” 

 

Her head snaps up and she smiles when she sees Gon, “Hey Gon,” then keeps her smile frozen on her face when she sees his companion, “Hey, Killua.”

 

“Hey.” Killua coughs back. 

 

“You have Mr. Satotz for precalc too?” he's suddenly in a brighter mood than he's been in all day. 

 

“Yeah, he's pretty good. Are you in the morning class?” she asks, swinging her backpack around to slip her test into her binder. 

 

“Yeah, but precalc is super hard. I don't get anything. I pretty much just failed this test.” he sighs. 

 

“Every math is hard for you, though.” Killua jabs with a mischievous chuckle, causing Gon to punch his friend in the arm. But the collision is harder than he expected and Killua was still laughing so he bumps into Lay, whose test falls out of her hands. 

 

“Oh shit, sorry.” Gon apologizes immediately, helping her pick up her exam. But he almost freezes when he sees the 98 at the top of the paper, “You aced it? Whoa, that's so crazy.” he says with genuine, wide eyes. 

 

“Uhm, yeah. Sorry to have ruined the curve, I guess.” she takes the paper back, looking timid all of a sudden as she slips the test into her binder. 

 

“No way, it's not your fault that I can't get precalc.” Gon sighs, “I've never really been good with numbers…” 

 

“Oh. Well… I mean if you ever need help, you can feel free to ask me.” Lay offers mostly to be polite. 

 

She doesn't expect Gon to latch onto the offer with bright excitement and to be dragging him to the local college library to study a few days later. Least of all, she doesn't expect Killua to come along as well. It doesn't even look like he wants to be there, but she figures he must have his own reason. 

 

Still, if he's coming along, he could do better not to complain so much, “Why do we have to come all the way out to this library to study?” he groans. 

 

“The college library is a better environment for studying than our school library or the public one, okay? There are actual students working hard here, rather than teenagers just messing around or random old people coming to use computers and stuff. If you're in a productive environment, you'll be able to focus on your task better.” Lay explains, trying not to sound exasperated with Killua’s attitude. 

 

“Wow, no wonder. My house is always super loud and busy. And it's not like the guys on the team are that good with focusing on studies either.” Gon comments, “That's really great advice, Lay.” 

 

She leads them to a set of couches that face each other with a coffee sized table sitting between them, and she rolls over a whiteboard for them to use to show their work. “So, what do you want to go over first?” 

 

An hour into it, their papers and books and notes are spread out across the table, and the whiteboard has been filled and erased several times with all the examples that Lay has shown the boys. Killua indignantly made a correction here and there when she miswrote a certain number of forgot a certain step in a problem. Lay simply clenched her teeth and graciously fixed the problems, stiffly thanking Killua for noticing. 

 

On Killua’s end, he's getting bored with the tutoring session. He had mainly tagged along to keep Gon from making googly eyes or flirting with Lay the entire time as to keep him focused. He did have to subtly snap his friend back to his work every now and then when Lay was bending over to write at the bottom of the whiteboard, or when she took off her glasses for a moment to wipe at them. As much as he would never admit it, Killua felt himself falter in those moments as well. But for the most part, Gon was doing alright. He seems to be getting the lesson more now as opposed to trying to figure out Killua’s notes on his own. 

 

The lesson comes to an end when they finish all of the test corrections and their homework for the evening. Gon cries out in relief and insists on getting smoothies for all of them afterwards. They can't really say no to such a charmer, so the three end up at a table together, sipping at their fruit smoothies. Or most of them at least. Killua is slouching and looking to the side, barely having touched his cup and almost scowling as Gon and Lay make easy conversation.

 

“By the way, there's going to be a party after the game next Friday.” Gon mentions, “You wanna come, Lay?”

 

“What time is it going to be?” she asks, looking a little more hesitant than usual this time. 

 

“Usually starts around nine or ten. Please come, it'll be a lot of fun.” Gon flashes his big, innocent, all-teeth smile. He even leans forward a little to angle his head up and meet Lay’s gaze looking down at her smoothie. 

 

Killua would expect her to giggle and give in, like any typical person would at such a charming move from Gon Freecs, but Lay actually looks over to Killua, “I don't know. Should I take his word for it, Killua?” 

 

Put on the spot, Killua doesn't know how to respond. He had always assumed that he and Lay weren't on very good terms ever since he kind of called her a sell-out. He doesn't know if the slight sarcasm he detects in Lay’s question is precedented. But she's lookin at him and now so is Gon with his hopeful puppy dog eyes. When did he suddenly become wingman in this equation? 

 

“It's up to you.” he grunts, adjusting his sitting position and grabbing his smoothie to have something to do with his hand and mouth, “The booze is decent and the music isn't terrible.” 

 

Lay’s expression is unreadable for a moment, but she eventually smiles back at Gon, “How bout this? You get at least a B on your next math test, I'll go.” 

 

“What?” Gon whines. 

 

“Come on, Gon.” Lay sighs exasperatedly, “The next test is on Monday, so prove to me that you've learned something from this and that I'm an effective tutor who deserves a break too.” 

  
  
  
  
  


Gon ends up with an 84. So apparently miracles do happen, Killua realizes. Even Lay is surprised, although she does her best to hide it when Gon practically shoves the exam in her face as she enters the cafeteria. But she quickly bounces back and holds her hands up for high fives that Gon eagerly smacks with his own and grips her hands in his stronger, bigger ones in. “So this means you'll come to the party on Friday, right?” he giggles, absolutely flushed with ecstasy. 

 

After fixing her glasses that have slipped down her nose, she sighs, “Well, we did have an agreement. And you worked hard, so how can I back out now?”

 

“Yes!” he pumps a fist and gives her a brief, but tight hug before heading back to his own table for lunch. 

 

Killua had watched the exchange with annoyance tugging at the back of his head. But he can't pinpoint why he would feel that way, so he ignores it. Just like he ignores the unmistakable twinkle in Gon’s eyes that doesn’t die down for the rest of the day. 

 

*

 

Lay is dressed in black like she usually is. But there's something about the way that those skinny jeans hug her legs tight enough to show every curve and muscle of them. And something about the tank underneath her bomber jacket that teases a sliver of shoulder whenever the jacket slips down. Something about the way she greets everyone she meets with equal and enthusiastic energy. 

 

Killua doesn't notice any big difference in how she treats the other guests with how she treats Gon. There's equal friendliness no matter the situation. But Gon, the overexcited bozo, brings Lay around the house on his arm, showing her off to everyone. The other members of the team are punching Gon in the arm for rubbing it in, and making occasional dirty jokes about the two that Lay either doesn't hear, ignores, or just doesn't get. And Killua has a vague feeling it's leaning more towards the very latter. 

 

It kind of gets at him how Gon is so obviously into a girl who doesn't even notice or acknowledge his best friend’s feelings or efforts. She’s practically leading him on! And Killua isn't anything if he's not a protective friend. He will do anything to prevent his friend from getting hurt.

 

But he's starting to have his doubts once Lay gets a few drinks in her system. He can't tell if she's becoming more affectionate or just really flirty and horny in general when she gets tipsy, but the way she's feeling up Gon’s chest during one of the nastier songs playing in the den has his best friend in a daze of bliss. She lost her glasses at some point earlier in the evening when one of the drunk guys took them off her face and put them on his head to make some lame joke. But the blindness has made her more confident, it seems. And her dancing has become less restrained without the fear of her glasses falling off. 

 

With the amount of drinks Lay threw back with incredible endurance, she obviously isn't a stranger to alcohol, but the effect on her is still easily visible. Shedding her inhibitions at some point, her body becomes really free spirited as she dances like she does on stage. A lot of the other dancers good heartedly copy a few of her moves and she starts dancing with them, putting everyone around her in a good mood. Gon can't get that stupid grin that's tearing his cheeks apart off of his face. 

 

But at some point, Gon approaches Killua and asks him to watch over Lay for a while while he heads to the bathroom. “Don't let her get too comfy with everyone else, okay?” he pushes Killua by the shoulders over to where Lay is when he tries protesting. 

 

Groaning, he's thrust into Lay’s dancing radius and she barely notices him until he's finished chugging down the beer in his hands. But suddenly, her hands are on him, squeezing at his arms, “Hmm…? Gon…?” she mumbles before leaning in close to squint at him, and then she lets out a breathless laugh, blowing her vodka saturated breath into his face, “Oh, it's Killua.” she muses with a drunk smile, “So glad you decided to join the party.”

 

“Uhm, actually--” he's interrupted as she kind of jumps on him to hug her arms around him with an intoxicated giggle, pressing her soft chest against his firm one. 

 

“You know you're always moping in the corner.” she whispers into his ear, catching him completely by surprise with her lips that brush against the shell. “I'm right here. Show me you know how to have a good time.” Something about those last words sounds a notch higher than just flirty. 

 

And then she starts dancing like that, rocking back and forth slowly and dizzily while clinging onto Killua’s shoulders as a new song starts playing. He really should push her off but the beer is starting to take effect in slowing his synapses and the scent in Lay’s hair and neck is incredibly pulling. The press of her body against his, and the occasional  _ rubbing _ against him has Killua’s cheeks flushing and hands tingling to feel those soft curves under his own fingertips.  _ Show her he knows how to have a good time? How good? _

 

But just as he's about to take his hands out of his pockets and rest them on her hips, Gon returns to snap Killua out of his stupor of bad ideas. “Wow, what's going on here?” Gon laughs good-naturedly, but there's a bit of an edge in his eyes. 

 

“Your girl is plastered. And she can barely hold herself up.” Killua tries his best to look deadpan, as if holding up Lay’s soft body and having her whisper things that sound like personal secrets into his ear is a chore. 

 

When Lay snaps her head up from Killua’s shoulders to stare straight at him, Killua digs his hands deeper into his pockets and looks to the side to avoid facing her head-on and to shoot Gon an annoyed look. “Hey! I am holding myself up perfectly fine!” she huffs, “I can hold my own without anyone’s help!” 

 

Her grip loosens around the back of Killua’s neck and she starts sliding down his chest, and Killua makes no move to catch her, pinning Gon with an impassive look. Luckily for Lay, Gon jumps forward and catches her in his arms with a laugh, good mood restored when she clings to the quarterback by the shoulders with a drunk giggle. With his impressive strength, he swings her up by the legs and catches her bottom half underneath the knees to carry her over to the sofa. 

 

Killua doesn't bother to continue watching Lay giggle helplessly while sitting in Gon’s lap, so he disappears into the kitchen for another drink. He misses out on Gon and Lay’s first almost-kiss. She's caressing his face mindlessly, all while giggling hysterically, and brushing her nose along the bridge of his. Gon’s glazed eyes are so desperately focused on her lips and how he wishes they were just an inch closer to his. The feel of her weight on top of his lap is magnificent, and he only wants to pull her closer to touch her more intimately. 

 

But Lay’s lips keep going up, and they only teasingly brush against the space between Gon’s eyebrows before she hums and brings her face down to hide rest on his shoulder, hiding it in the crook of his neck. Gon bites his lip at the torturous regret of the missed opportunity. 

 

He could easily just tilt his head and plant one on her right now, since she's obviously in the beginning phases of being shit faced. But he doesn't want to initiate anything without Lay’s clear consent. And he kind of wants her to make the first move, mainly to clearly prove to him that she's actually interested. He hadn't doubted his charm before, but getting a glimpse at how she was hanging off of Killia earlier made Gon a little anxious. There's always a possibility. 

 

After Gon finishes his train of thought and checks back into the party still happening around him, he finally notices that Lay has fallen asleep in his arms. She's absolutely adorable, he thinks. Then he proceeds to lift her up the way he had earlier, bridal style, and carries her up to one of the available guest rooms. He tucks her into the bed gently, brushing his fingertips along Lay’s face when he brushes her hair aside. But breaking his resistance for just a moment, he leans down and kisses her forehead before practically sprinting out of the room as if he committed a crime. After tying a necktie around the doorknob outside of the room to ward off any intruders, Gon joins the party again, accepting drinks and slaps on the back wherever he goes. 


	5. Shut up and Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the drama commence (¬‿¬)

Lay peels her eyes open to find that the two bodies that she's squeezed between on this foreign bed belong to what she believes to be Gon and Killua. Although she can't be entirely sure since she doesn't know where her glasses are at the moment. She can't help but wonder if she's still dreaming, but the mixed scents of these two strong athletes after an intensive party paired with the dull thrumming in her head pushes her to make sense of the situation. 

 

As she regains awareness of her body, she feels the weight of an arm wrapped around her waist. Actually, make that two arms. One from each side. She subtly lifts the blanket covering her and the boys up to see both of them do indeed have an arm wrapped around body. Even their legs are closely pressed to the side of hers, threatening to entangle with each other. 

 

Dropping the covers back down, Lay closes her eyes and tries to recount the events from the previous night. She had flirted and danced with a lot of people…. oh god! She had practically dry humped Killua during one song! And almost kissed Gon during another! Neither of them seem to have done anything to her, since her body is still fully clothed and the only physical discomfort she feels comes from the alcohol being digested in her body.

 

In all honesty, Lay is finding a lot of delight in this position between the two most attractive and popular guys on the football team. If she lets her fantasies roam too far, then she can imagine not minding being stuck between their bodies without barriers like pride, or complications, or clothes. With her eyes closed and her mind still groggy, she slips easily into these thoughts of the contrast of the boys’ skin, or the different sounds they might make, or how their big each of their--

 

She stops right there and rapidly sits back up, and begins patting her hands around the bed and the boys’ bodies in a blind search for her glasses. The movement on the bed brings Killua to reluctant consciousness, and he growls low in the back of his throat in annoyance until he feels the weight of a hand rest briefly against his crotch. But it's gone as quickly as it had appeared, and Killua feels regretful and needy for it. Before he can blindly grab at whoever had groped him to touch him again in his sleepy, hungover stupor, he blinks until he makes out the image of Lay climbing right over him and touching everywhere in search of something. 

 

His first reaction is his cheeks reddening, because the brief moment that she's hovering above him in the bed as she clambers over the edge of it to get off has his heart racing faster than he wants it to. And then his next one is to groan, both at how sore his body feels in the aftermath of too many drinks as well as the longing for physical touch to comfort him. Rolling over to his side to stretch, Killua recovers some feeling in his limbs as he falls closer to Gon’s waking body. The quarterback’s morning voice even surprises Killua with such a scratchy, sultry pitch, “Mm?” 

 

Gon rubs his eyes before blinking them to look at his best friend with a lazy smile, “Mornin’ Killua.” he croaks. 

 

“Yeah.” is all Killua manages to grumble in his own scratchy, deepened morning voice. He sits up and ruffles his hair to get rid of the morning itch and stiffness. 

 

But the most surprising sound of all is Lay’s morning voice, cracked and deepened as well, and incredibly more masculine than they expected to come from her mouth, “Guys, do you know where my glasses are?” 

 

Killua chokes mid-snort, slapping a hand to his mouth to hide his strained grin. Gon ignores it, choosing to answer Lay instead, “Here, I have them for you.” he reaches over the edge of the bed to dig around in his jacket. Killua only realizes then that Gon has only a tight tank top on, which is more than what he usually sleeps in at night, he knows. 

 

He fishes the glasses out and sits up to hand them over to Lay, “They ended up with Phinks somehow, but they're intact, luckily. Sorry about that.” It's hard to find the sheepishness in Gon’s voice when it sounds so rugged and deep. 

 

“Thank you.” Lay smiles as she slips the frames onto her ears and regains her ability to see everything around her. And when she can clearly depict the two ruffled up, muscular, sleepy football players sitting beside each other in the bed, and imagine how she must have looked tucked between the two demigod-like boys, she clears her throat more decisively and announces, “I should probably get home. But you guys can feel free to rest up.” 

 

“Wait, I'll take you home.” Gon makes to sit up and leave the bed, but the movement proves to be a bit much for Gon’s hungover head and body. He clutches his head and sighs. 

 

“Relax, boy.” Lay puts a restraining hand on Gon’s shoulder to keep him from getting up again, “I'll call someone. You need to rest up more before you're taking anyone anywhere. If you guys want, I could also drive you both home.” 

 

“It's cool, Barry will let us stay for a while to recover.” Gon smiles with a shake of his head, although there's a sad hue to it since his time with Lay will be cut short. “Just text me when you get home, alright?” 

 

What a gentleman, Killua thinks. It's a wonder how Lay has been able to resist him all this time. After Lay finally takes her leave, Gon sinks back down into the bed and turns into his side to face Killua, his hand resting under his cheek thoughtfully. 

 

Killua has been lying face up with his hands resting behind his head on the pillow for a while. He says nothing until Gon starts first, “Go on. Say it.” 

 

“Say what?”

 

“Laugh at me or tell me how whipped I am.” Gon purses his lips, thinking about how hard it's been trying to get through to Lay. It hasn't come as easily as it has with previous girls. “Or how she's just not that into me.” 

 

“Why would you want me to say that?” Killua deadpans. 

 

“I don't know.” Gon shrugs the one shoulder that he's not lying on, “Don't I look a little pathetic chasing after her when she's not really interested?” 

 

“Yeah, you do.” Killua receives a playful punch from Gon for that, “But whatever. I don't really get it, how you're so into a girl who's always playing you. Like what's so great about her?”

 

Gon chuckles, “What's not great about her? She's smart, talented, fun to be around, really cute, need I go on?” 

 

“She's also leading you on.” Killua frowns, unable to fathom why his best friend can't see or acknowledge this, “Come on, Gon. She likes someone else, and she's still catering to your whims because she's too insensitive to say no.” 

 

“On the contrary, I think that makes her very sensitive. And you saw her last night at the party. She was all over me, so maybe I'm starting to change her mind.” 

 

“As I recall, she was probably just drunk because she was all over me, too.” Killua points out, “And I doubt it's because she's growing to like me.” Although with what she had been whispering in his ear last night, he can't be very conclusive. 

 

“Well, you never know.” Gon turns onto his stomach, sliding his arms underneath the pillow, “Just work me a little, would ya? I like her. And I'm waiting for her to like me back.”

 

“Whatever, Gon.” Killua sighs, turning away from the affectionate shining in his eyes as he starts daydreaming about Lay. 

 

Killua drifts back to sleep with the girl haunting the back of his own dark eyelids. 

  
  


*

  
  


Killua has been quite the early bird to school these days. There’s been a lot of traffic going on in the city with the road reconstruction going on in one of the busiest intersections in town. Getting to the bridge and the freeway has been a nightmare for the past few weeks for a lot of people. Killua luckily has his motorcycle so he can easily whiz through everyone and turn envious eyes at him for his maneuverability. 

 

As early as he is, however, he sees that there are others who are already on campus being productive as early as 8 in the morning. Teachers are trying to bring life to themselves with the hot mugs on their desks, some students are cramming for their first period quizzes and exams in the library, and there are just a few people chilling in random spots before class. Killua also catches a glimpse of a familiar figure in black clothing scurrying into the auditorium. 

 

Out of curiosity, Killua peeks into the auditorium and just sits in one of the seats in the back row as he watches the pair on stage practicing their lines for the upcoming play. The spotlight follows them and several of the colored lights are changed to follow the atmosphere of the scene. Killua simply watches until the actors break character and show a thumbs up to whoever’s up in the lightbox room. “Thanks, Lay!” they call out.

 

“Not a problem.” That unmistakable voice calls back from behind Killua at the top of the balcony seats. He takes that as his cue to leave. Glancing down at his watch, he sees that it’s already almost 8:20, so he should head to his locker before class starts.

 

But just before he can escape through those blackout curtains by the door, “Killua?” The football captain stops in his tracks, visibly freezing, “What’s up? Did you need something?”

 

“Uh… no, I was just… killing some time.” he opts for the truth as he turns around to face the approaching techie girl. 

 

“Oh. I see.” Lay saunters up to him, “I was just helping some of the actors prepare for the play. Apparently, one of them used to have really bad epilepsy, so he wants to get as much practice in as possible.” she points her thumb behind her at the two actors who had just left through one of the side doors of the auditorium. 

 

“Whoa.” Killua replies as they begin walking together down the hallway, “Talk about dedication to the arts.” 

 

“You said it.” Lay breathes, “Anyway, how early did you get here anyway, since you had so much time to kill? I thought everyone was skidding into class at the last second these days thanks to that re-beautification project downtown.” 

 

“I have my bike, so it’s not as hard for me to get here.” 

 

“Bike as in like ding-ding or bike as in like vroom-vroom?” Lay chuckles.

 

Killua can’t help but laugh as well, “Bike, as in 125-horsepower and 1170cc engine.” 

 

“Oh, cool. So like  _ extra _ vroom vroom.” Lay jokes. 

 

“Nah, it’s just a BMW. The Ducati’s the one with the extra vroom vroom.” he answers. 

 

“Yeah, I’m just playing.” Lay smiles, “I see that R1200 GS in the parking lot all the time. Didn’t know you had a Ducati too, though.” 

 

“Oh,” Killua doesn’t know why he can feel his ears warming up a bit. “Yeah, I’ve had it for like a year now. The BMW’s good for the commute to school, but the Ducati’s more for recreation.”

 

“Rich kids, man…” Lay playfully shakes her head, “Got a school bike and a weekend bike. Do you play golf too?”

 

“Oh come on, don’t act like you have it bad. You treat your Armani and Persol specs like they’re drugstore reading glasses.” Killua rolls his eyes.

 

“Hey! I have simple tastes, it’s my mom who insists on the designer brands. It honestly all looks the same to me.” Lay argues, “Although I must say, these ones are pretty durable.” she lifts the frames up and gives Killua a quick glimpse at her deep, pretty eyes before resting them on her nose again. 

 

“I think your mom does a lot of good things for you that you don’t even realize.” Killua says without thinking.

 

Lay’s step falters just the slightest before she smoothly continues, “What do you mean by that?” 

 

“Well, I mean, you’re this good at singing and dancing and just performing in general because of all the classes she’s made you take. The only thing she couldn’t give you was confidence.” 

 

“Well, it’s not that easy, Killua. It’s not like I choose to be nervous in front of others.” Lay says a little indignantly.

 

“I get that, but what I don’t get is how you feel like you have hide away behind your bad eyesight to do what you really want.” Killua is on a roll now. He sounds like a career counselor and it’s not even half past eight. “Obviously, you like being onstage and you have fun up there. And you’re clearly good at it.  I don’t get why you’re so insistent on staying hidden.”

 

“So you  _ do _ think I’m good onstage.” Lay smiles as if she just found out a secret he wasn’t trying to reveal.

 

He doesn’t know why, but the almost scrutinizing smile on her face makes him apprehensive. Enough so that he’s too flustered to realize that Lay has changed the subject. “Well, yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”

 

“And here I thought you weren’t even a bit moved by my efforts.” Lay hums curiously as she considers Killua’s words, “So what are you getting at then? That I should just stop fronting? That I should embrace my inner desires to be onstage and show my true colors?” she waves her arms out dramatically, sarcastically.

 

“No, you don’t have to do anything, especially if I’m the one telling you to do it.” Lay seems to hold back a surprised expression at that, “I’m just saying that you have the chops, okay? So if you don’t want to hold back, then just don’t.”

 

“Killua,” her voice almost sounds sentimental now, “It’s not as easy as that. You’re always saying something like ‘how would you know if you didn’t even try?’ or whatever. This isn’t like playing football. I can’t just keep trying and then get another chance at the next play.” 

 

“Why not?” 

 

“What?” 

 

“Why not? That’s how everything works. If you fail, you fail. Then you try again. It’s the same with anything. If you mess up a game or a performance or a test or whatever, then you just try again until you manage. I mean, of course it’s not easy, but what comes easy anyway?” 

 

They’re almost to their lockers, but Lay makes a dramatic stop, so Killua has to stop as well and turn around to face her. He can’t assess her current expression because it’s just filled with so many thoughts that her face must not know what to show, so he just hides his hands in his pockets and waits for her to say something, “What?”

 

“You must be a pretty good captain, huh?” she smiles.

 

“Why else would the football team be the pride and fame of this sorry school?” Killua finds himself smirking. 

 

Lay’s laugh chimes through the still rather empty hallway, and the echo makes a ping in Killua’s chest. Then she walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, and comes a little closer to his ear than necessary to say, “Thanks, captain. I’ll heed your advice.” 

 

Thankfully, Lay pulls away and walks up to her locker before she can feel Killua’s body shiver. After parting ways for their first period classes, Killua runs through the entire conversation in his head again, wondering why he feels dizzy whenever he recalls the look in Lay’s eyes or the twinkle of her laugh. He doesn’t realize he’s got the smallest of smiles lifting his cheeks until he catches sight of his own reflection in one of the beakers on the lab table. Instinctively, he clears his throat and straightens his face before his classmates can show up and question him about it. 

 

He is surprised by how easily the conversation went. For a while, all he could remember was just feeling awkward or anxious whenever he was around Lay, as if that hidden tension that was built between their few interactive encounters was still lingering there. But after getting piss drunk and dancing up on him and even waking up in the same bed, he would have assumed there’d be a slight discomfort between them rather than having the tension completely evaporated. 

 

Killua has to remind himself that this is Lay. The girl that his best friend likes and is trying so hard to win over. The girl that's kind of giving Gon the wrong signals. The girl that’s… helping him tutor his best friend. A girl who recognizes the type of motorcycle he drives and knows how to joke around with him despite their past… complicated interactions. A girl who's actually got quite a pretty pair of eyes. Maybe Killua can see why everyone else is suddenly so interested in her. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


And over the next couple of weeks, Killua realizes that Lay gets along pretty well with people from many different walks of life. But he feels like he’s built a mutual understanding with her since that interaction. They find a lot of relatable things to talk about actually, since they both come from families with prestigious backgrounds. Whenever he tags along to her and Gon’s study dates or smoothie stops, he finds himself enjoying the conversation and following the things that Lay says. And he’s found that he can talk about some of the complications of his family and she'll understand it because she has interacted with those people as well. 

 

The only times he can remind himself to cool it are when he sees her talk to Zushi, and she's suddenly just a little more animated than when she's talking to Gon or anyone else on the team. Save for Killua himself, that is, ironic as it is. Killua doesn't know if he's imagining it when he sees her shoulders perk up just the slightest when he tags along to hang out after school, but she always does seem to enjoy having him around. And as weird as it is… he finds himself feeling the same way. 

 

There's this strange sparkle in Lay’s eyes that Killua sometimes wants to mistake for a reflective glare on her glasses when she finds out they share another common interest, whether in music taste, dessert preference, shopping habits, sociopolitical stances, or just relating to each other with how their families expect so much from them. The nervous chuckles Gon makes occur more often, as if he's starting to feel left out. And although they bounce back quickly and Gon is animatedly participating in a new conversation with Lay just moments afterward, most of the time Killua has to remember that his best friend really likes this girl. 

 

So Killua tries to keep his distance and build up his best friend as best as he can around Lay, acting as a subtle wingman. Lay follows the flow of the conversation most of the time, but he can't help but snap at himself for unknowingly staring at Lay more often nowadays. He knows because he's already looking at her when she turns around to meet his gaze, and he can't -- or rather, doesn't want to -- turn away. Those bright and sparkling eyes of her just reign him in like a fish on a hook. 

 

It's quite terrible how he wakes up one evening after picturing those bright, hypnotizing eyes up close in a dream. Killua could slap himself for waking up with such a racing heartbeat and a growing erection. After catching his breath, he groans at the sudden memory of Lay’s hand brushing against his crotch that morning after one of the post-game parties. 

 

He won’t even dare to think about the dark moments of the evening when he gives into temptation, allowing his imagination to take the form of someone in all black with an all too familiar smile and playful eyes. He lets his imagination engulf him as his hand slides into his sleeping shorts, letting the darkness of night cover up his acts of shame, and actively forgets about it when daylight hits.

 

*

 

“Killua, how do you feel about Lay?” 

 

Killua almost slams his hand into his own locker hearing his best friend’s question come out of the blue, “What?”

 

“Just… you know, how do you feel about her? Personally.” Gon bites his inner lip before he asks, not quite looking Killua in the eye. 

 

“Uhm… she’s cool, I guess.” Killua shrugs, his own nonchalance as dishonest as his friend’s. Both of their inner messages and thoughts are sensitive to this topic. 

 

“Right?” Gon tries to be his enthusiastic self, but fails to hide his shortness of breath in his nervous laugh. “You guys seem to be getting along more now. I was kind of worried in the beginning when you kind of wanted nothing to do with her.” 

 

“Oh. Yeah… That’s feels like ages ago…” It really does. Killua can’t even imagine his irrational hostility towards Lay at the beginning, let alone try to find the reason why he had behaved that way towards her. “But I mean, thanks to you, we’re pretty cool now.” 

 

“Really?” Gon looks genuinely happy to hear that he had some positive effect in their friendly relationship now, as well as a hint of ambivalence at how they almost get along better than Gon himself gets along with Lay. “That’s good to hear…” 

 

Killua can’t take it. He is not such a sucker that he’d fall for anyone’s pitiful puppy dog eyes, but he has always made an exception for Gon -- and his sister, Alluka. “Come on, man. You don’t think that there’s anything going on between us, right?”

 

“What? Well, I mean… I mean, I really wouldn’t blame you if you did! Really!” Gon’s eyes come alive, “I mean, I told you before that there’s a lot to like about her, right? Now that you’re getting along so well, I couldn’t help just wondering, ya know? If you were starting to like… you know,”

 

“Gon. I wouldn’t do that to you. I know you’re crazy about this chick, okay?” Killua sighs, “I’m not gonna get in between you and Lay, so don’t try and come up with some weird ideas that I’m getting the hots for her, alright?” 

 

“Killua…” Gon’s eyes are swimming with things like confusion, gratefulness, sadness… Killua really doesn’t know how to take it. 

 

“Gon.” Killua tries to punctuate his name as if to end this conversation. 

 

“Come on, Killua. It’s cool if you just wanna tell me. I mean, I see the way you look at her--” 

 

Gon is unable to finish his thought because there are steps thundering down the hallway and the woman of the hour is sprinting towards them, shouting Killua’s name like a cry for help. 

 

As hard as she tries to skid to a stop, she still ends up crashing into the two boys. Gon, with his Herculean arm muscles, manages to stop her momentum and stabilize her, “Hey, where’s the fire?” he says in that tender voice he usually uses whenever he’s talking to Lay. 

 

“Killua, I need a huge, fat,  _ gargantuan _ favor. Please!” Lay starts begging with wild eyes. 

 

“What? What’s up?” Killua says slowly. 

 

“Please, I need you to drive me over to the hospital in Northvale. Like, right now.” Lay says in a calmer voice. 

 

“Northvale?!” Gon exclaims.

 

“Right now?” Killua glances at his best friend out of the corner of his eye, wondering how this must look to him after he had just tried reassuring him that there's nothing between them. Yet here Lay is, rushing to him for help, “I’m about to go to practice--”

 

“Killua,  _ please _ . It’s my dad, he’s been in a really bad accident and he’s in a critical condition right now. I really need to be by his side, and you  _ know _ how it’s impossible to get out of the city right now with the construction near the bridge.” Lay takes a step much closer to them, so that their noses are only inches apart and Killua can’t escape Lay’s pleading eyes, “Killua, please. Please. I’ll do anything, I promise. Just, please--”

 

“Go.” 

 

Killua turns around to see the calm, accepting smile of his best friend, “Gon…”

 

“Go, Killua. You can’t turn down a damsel in distress. I’ll let coach know.” Gon implores. 

 

Looking back and forth between his best friend’s and Lay’s insistent eyes, Killua supposes he can’t possibly refuse. With a sigh, he tosses his sports bag back into his locker and grabs the keys to his bike, “You’re in luck,” he says as he slams his locker closed, “I brought the Ducati today.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stay tuned for a little extra something that'll be posted in the next 24 hours or so ;))))))


	6. Bonus - A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (When You're Fast Asleep)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little Killua x Lay smut interlude ;)))))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just some bonus interaction between killua and lay to complement the previous chapter, in case their development seems to have escalated too quickly or unconvincingly. also, our first taste of some porn to hold you over before we get to the good shit :) thank you to everyone who's been reading and commenting so far, it really makes me so happy. i hope you enjoy~

“Wanna see something?” Lay asks Killua with a secretive looking smile before she pulls up a chair. She must have pressed something because music is suddenly playing and Lay is rolling her body in waves with a leg propped up on the seat. 

 

Killua can't even do anything besides watch as her body crescendos and moves just like ocean waves. How does a freaking high schooler know to move like that? The tight fitting black clothing is not helping him stay focused on simply observing and appreciating the art Lay is being kind enough to show him. 

 

But a slightly closer look makes it clear that her black clothing is a lot of mesh and lace. So although it's covering most of her, he can still see a lot. And… it's quite an effective aesthetic for this kind of burlesque dance she's doing. 

 

It gets dirtier… Lay is planking her elbows on the chair and sweeping her straightened legs on the floor behind her with perfect ease and seductive intent. Her legs spread wide open on the floor beneath her and then she rolls back to lie on the ground, sweeping her arm this way and that to match the music playing in the background. 

 

And he doesn't know how she does it, but she manages to roll around and onto her feet and smoothly glide Killua into the seat with her swift movements before he even realizes he's sitting. He should feel trapped by Lay’s arms that cage him with her hands on either side of the chair’s back, but he really just feels intimidated and aroused by the dominating look in her eyes as she brings her face closer to his. 

 

Only their noses barely brush against each other, and Killua just wants to run his hands all over the mesh material covering Lay’s body, but they're immobilized. It's as if he's stuck in a puppet body that he himself can't control. Only by Lay’s hand will he be able to do a thing. Which leaves him at her complete mercy as she sits on his lap and starts slowly grinding on him. 

 

Killua wants to gasp, wants to say something, wants to  _ touch _ her, but all he can do is start and moan as she continues to roll her hips against his. He wants her, he wants her so fucking bad. He wants to see her naked body glistening as it rubs wildly against his own. He wants to see those big, beautiful eyes locked on him as he slams his cock into her and makes her wish he would stay like that for the rest of her life. 

 

And like a dream, the barriers disappear in a wish come true. Lay’s tantalizing clothing has disappeared into thin air with a blink, and so have Killua’s, only to be replaced by her tantalizing borderless body that continues to rub and grind against his. Killua still can't move his limbs, and Lay seems absolutely enthralled with taking her time and torturing Killua like this. And she proves that with the way she whispers Killua’s name into his ear. 

 

It's so hot. From Lay’s gaze, to her voice, to her body up against his, everything sends Killua into a frenzy of desire and he wants nothing more than to connect their bodies as one. Over and over and over again. He watches helplessly as Lay uses her own pace and takes Killua’s cock in her hand to sit on top of it. 

 

It feels fucking incredible, and he wants nothing more than to return the favor, rub against her. Killua can feel the squeeze of her walls against him as if he's dreaming because he never imagined fucking anyone or anything so tight. 

 

“Ughh…” he groans softly, afraid that any sound he makes will somehow shatter the atmosphere. But at the same time, all he wants to do is moan aloud and call her baby and tell her not to stop. 

 

“Fuck…” he mumbles. Wills himself to move his hand between their crotches so he can touch her. He wants to see her face when she's trembling with pleasure, aching with it. 

 

“Killua…” she whispers to him, breathes into his ear like it's a secret only they can share. She continues to chant his name in the most lovingly delirious voice that he has ever heard. It sounds like she's getting high off of him and the pleasure he's giving her, which only makes him want to give her more. 

 

“Ugh…” he groans. His hand finally makes a move towards their crotches and Killua feels around for her clit, slowly bringing her closer to her peak. He wants her to feel this for a long time, to last as long as she can in torturous, tantalizing pleasure from his cock and fingers. 

 

But something about that brush of his fingertips against her feels rough. Something feels off, and it's only after several more minutes of mindless stroking that Killua opens his eyes and realizes he’s just palming himself through his shorts. In his bed. In the dead of night. 

 

When Killia regains consciousness of himself, he stops stroking, checks the clock to see that it's 5am and still dark, he groans and knocks his head against the pillow again. “Fuck…” he breathes heavily, body trembling from the vividness of his dream. 

 

He should be thinking ‘why the hell am I having wet dreams about Lay?’ but his body is so on edge from the imagery that he knows how this is going to end up anyway… 

 

With a small push, the band of his shorts and boxers come down and he lets his dick free from the confines of his clothing, but still keeps it suffocated underneath his blankets as if they'll somehow protect his dirty, terrible secret. Honestly, jacking off to the image of his best friend’s crush isn't the best idea, but she put the image in his mind! Killua wants to blame his adolescent body rather than his own integrity, but he can't help but enjoy this…

 

Closing his eyes again to hide behind even more darkness, Killua’s hand grips the base of his cock and makes a stroke up as he latches onto the seams of his dream; the feeling of Lay’s naked body against his, riding on him in the chair, the look on her face as she stared so deeply into his eyes, mouth open in ecstasy and moaning for more… As he reimagines the sound of her breathless voice calling his name in such pleasure, Killua can feel himself reaching his limits. With several quick and firm strokes, and the occasional flick of his thumb over his head, his hips twitch into his hand until he comes with a garbled moan. 

 

He covers his mouth, feeling ashamed that he had made the sound at all. The fuck did he just do? Jerk off to the girl who Gon likes. The girl who has enough fire to befriend every idiot on the football team and then some. The girl who likes staying behind the scenes despite loving being onstage. The girl who sang to him today with the sweetest voice that he swears she must have been sending a message in every lyric to him. Killua groans as he sinks further into his mattress, reaching over to grab at a few tissues to clean himself up. 

 

He had found Lay in the music room today after practice today. He isn't usually in the art wing, but he needed to drop off something at one of the department offices there. That's when he heard the electric guitar being played behind the door of the music room. Come to think of it, Jispa had borrowed his notes for something the other day but still hadn't returned them. So Killua walked into the room with a couple knocks on the pretense that the band’s guitarist would be inside. 

 

As it turned out, Lay was the one strumming the chords of the stratocaster and kind of just jamming on her own. Until she had seen Killua walk in, that is, “Oh my god!” she steps back, holding her hand to her chest. 

 

“Oh, my bad. I was looking for Jispa.” he looks around the room and sees that Lay is its only inhabitant, “Am I interrupting something?” 

 

“No, no.” Lay clears her throat, pulling the guitar back over her head and setting it down. She also unplugs it from the amp and twists several knobs to turn it off. “I uh… was just messing around. Please don't tell Jispa I did that.” she purses her lips together, looking guilty as she doesn't meet Killua’s eyes. 

 

“It's cool, I won't.” Killua chuckles good-naturedly. “You uh… do this often?” he asks, walking up to the guitar and stroking the neck of it with two fingers. 

 

“No! No, I just… usually I come to play the piano when I've got a song stuck in my head or something and I kinda just wanna play it out loud, you know?” Lay looks somewhat nervous, quite a contrast from her daily unrestrained smiles and jokes. It must be because she has an audience member now. 

 

Killua doesn't know why he says, “So play.”

 

“What?”

 

“Just play. I wanna hear it.” he says casually, his hands in his pockets and face as bored as he usually is. 

 

“What? No, Killua, I… I can't.” Lay fiddles her fingers a little, looking away. 

 

“Sure, you can.” Killua takes a seat on one side of the piano chair and turns to look at Lay expectantly. He doesn't know why he's being so insistent of this, but he feels like maybe he'll get to see a new side of Lay today. “I won't judge you even if you mess up.” 

 

“But…” Lay trails off, but Killua simply continues looking at her and sitting in the chair. 

 

“Play me whatever song is stuck in your head right now.” he requests simply. And eventually, Lay moves to sit beside him on the bench. It's a bit of a tight fit, but he doesn't mind the press of their thighs together. It might even have been the warmth traveling through their bodies like that that made Killua’s body remember the pressure. 

 

With slow movements, Lay brings her hands to the keys and starts playing some simple notes. She plays likes that for a while, continuously glancing at Killua with anxious eyes until Killua meets her gaze and just gives her a small smile. Surprisingly, Lay’s eyes widen just a bit and her cheeks color a smidge. Clearing her throat, she turns back to the keys and continues playing for another minute or so until she gets the confidence to start singing. 

 

Killua listens intently as Lay’s voice picks up speed and just a little more confidence as she continues. He feels her arm press against his several times as she reaches over to press the right keys and Killua has the strongest urge to bring his arm around Lay’s waist and place it on her hip. Would that be weird? Is that kind of intimacy too much?

 

Against his better judgement, he does it anyway. Once his hand rests on her other hip, Lay lets out a little gasp and presses the wrong keys for a couple of notes before continuing as if it she hadn't. Killua has to bite his lip to keep from grinning too widely at how adorable the reaction was.

 

In addition to how cute she looks now with the color blossoming on her cheeks, Lay’s warmth that's now underneath Killua’s hand, against his thigh, and occasionally brushing up against his side with this new closeness he's created makes him feel insanely intimate with her. Maybe he shouldn't have done it, because he has no idea how he's going to get out of this situation and explain himself, but at the same time, he's enjoying himself far too much. 

 

When Lay finally finishes her song and takes her hands away from the piano keys to rest them in her lap, Killua still doesn't take his hand away. And Lay doesn't lean away from him either. In fact, judging by the small twitch of her head and the strength of her interlocked fingers following, Killua would brave a guess that Lay wanted to put her head on his shoulder too. And that makes him wonder what that weight on his shoulder would feel like. How it would feel to have more of Lay’s body pressed against his entire side. How they would look to someone who might walk into the music room and see them cuddled up on the piano bench together. 

 

“That was nice.” Killua finally says, clearing his throat that's somehow gone husky from dryness. 

 

“Thanks.” Lay nods. “Do you uh… want to hear another one?” 

 

“Are you willing to play another one?” Killua smiles amusedly. 

 

“Yeah. For some reason, it feels a little more cathartic when someone is listening. Nerve-wracking, but cathartic.” Lay slowly slides her hands along her thighs. Killua isn't sure if she's just doing it out of anxiousness, or maybe to wipe the sweat off of her palms, but the movement is slow enough to get Killua’s imagination to wander and he clears his throat again. 

 

“So let me hear it.” 

 

“Okay.” Lay whispers more to herself, as if mentally preparing to play another song in front of someone. When she begins playing a simple [tune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU769XX_dIQ) with about four notes, her gaze hardens as she turns to Killua to say in a harsh voice,  _ “I never fucked Wayne, I never fucked Drake. On my life m--” _

 

She stops playing when Killua takes the hand that was on her waist and pushes her with it. They both break out in laughter and Lay has to hold onto Killua’s arm to keep from toppling over her side of the bench. Killua makes some protests about how he was fooled into thinking Lay actually gets nervous, and Lay banters back for a bit. 

 

“For real, though. I get nervous singing in front of people, okay?” Lay nudges him with an elbow, “You know I can only joke around right now ‘cause it’s you, right?” 

 

Killua feels as if his heart has just been pierced with an arrow. His entire body flushes with a bit of pride and he can’t help but smirk at Lay, “S’that so?” He can’t help but love the cute giggle she makes at him as he gets playful. 

 

“Yeah. If I just stare at you for a while, then I can tell you’re just gonna drill me until I suck it up and keep playing.” 

 

“That only works if you can achieve the mindset. It’s all you, not me.” Killua reminds her. 

 

Lay leans in with a small smile, pressing her shoulder lightly against his, and Killua feels the intimacy of the gesture, “Well, I appreciate you giving me a little kick anyway.” 

 

They’re both looking down at their touching thighs, and like clockwork, their gazes come up to meet simultaneously. It’s almost too perfect, and despite the strong urge to look away and just blush, they stay like that for a while, just staring. It’s as if their eyes are frozen in each other’s, and the moment feels almost too intimate. 

 

And that’s when Killua feels a light weight on his thigh -- Lay’s hand. It feels nice. And the atmosphere is only getting denser. As if it’s going to cave in between them if someone or something doesn’t stop them soon. There are so many things screaming in Killua’s mind both to do this, and not to do this, and he doesn’t even know who to listen to. Or even if he wants to think about what ‘do this’ means. Especially when Lay whispers Killua’s name so softly between her pretty lips like that. He can feel that pierce in his heart again, but this time somewhere lower in his body, somewhere threatening. 

 

So he doesn’t know whether to feel grateful or upset when his phone shatters the tense atmosphere as it starts ringing. They both clear their throats and take their hands away from each other as Killua mumbles an apology and digs his phone out of his pocket. 

 

It’s his dad.

 

“Yeah.” he answers.

 

He wants to know when he’ll be home because the firm got a new case today that would be a good opportunity for Killua to go over with them and analyze. Killua really doesn’t want to think about that shit when he was having such a good time with Lay, but he really doesn’t have an excuse to refuse. 

 

“Fine, I’ll be home soon.” he sighs. 

 

When he hangs up, Lay pokes at him in an attempt to bring him out of his visibly dampened mood, “New project, Case Assistant Junior?” 

 

“Yeah… Thought he was giving me a break from it all, but it only lasted so long.” Killua sighs. 

 

“You can’t say no?” 

 

“I’ve been doing it for this long, so I don’t really have a valid excuse to just stop all of a sudden.”

 

“But it seems like you don’t even like doing any of this.” Lay reasons, “Can’t he tell that your heart isn’t really in it?”

 

“I don’t think that’s what matters to him. If I can do it, then I’m doing it.” he pockets his phone, “I’ve always been the prodigy in the family, even though my brother is actually way more competent and into working at the firm than I am. They take favoritism to a new level.” 

 

“That sucks.” Lay presses her lips together, “You planning on telling them that you’re not interested?” 

 

“Not until I can get a full ride somewhere without any of their support. But for now, guess I’ll have to just play along and leave hints.” Killua stands up from the bench, shouldering his backpack. “I gotta head out. You want a ride home?” 

 

“It’s cool. My driver’s coming. I was just in here waiting for him, since traffic’s so bad these days.” she smiles, “Thanks, though. Hope the case goes well.”

 

“Yeah, thanks.” he says awkwardly, heading towards the door, “I’ll uh… see you tomorrow.”

 

“See you tomorrow.” Lay smiles back, clutching her knees awkwardly as well as she watches Killua leave. 

 

“And uh… thanks… for the song.” he stutters before he steps out of the door. 

 

“It’s my pleasure.” Lay nods, her smile growing just a bit as she bows her head briefly. 

 

Killua had gotten through that stupid case analysis by thinking of Lay’s encouraging words and the intimate moments they had shared in that music room, and ultimately fell asleep with her face at the forefront of his mind. Now here he is, lying in the dark with dirty sheets and covered in a puddle of his own guilt and shame. 

 

He didn’t even realize how much of an effect Lay had on his body, but it’s clear that there was something building between them that Killua doesn’t even know if he should explore. As much as the logical part of his mind piles on more and more reasons not to get too infatuated with this dynamic he has going on with Lay, his body is screaming for her. He can’t stop thinking about how good she looked and felt on top of him. 

 

If he’s completely honest, Lay isn’t the prettiest girl he’s ever seen, even when she’s prettied up and her glasses are off. But for some reason, he can’t keep his eyes away from her when she’s laughing, or stop himself from joking around with her when they go at it, or keep images of her body out of his mind when he closes his eyes at night… 

 

And thanks to his damn need for sleep, she’s infiltrated the darkest corners of his subconscious and come to life in his dreams. Dreams that are vivid enough to get Killua to touch himself even when he’s not awake, ‘cause god knows how he’d try to stop himself if he was thinking properly. 

 

With a groan, he wipes away at any excess mess under his covers and on himself before taking a piss and going back to bed, willing himself to sleep without picturing Lay again. To no avail. 


	7. Something's Got a Hold on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killua drives Lay to the hospital. And Lay goes on a date~

Ironically, it was because of all the construction going on around the bridge that wore down the tires of Killua’s BMW, which is why it’s in the shop right now. It was a bit flashy to bring his Monster 1200S to school, even though he chose the liquid concrete grey instead of the signature Ducati red. Anyone walking by could tell that this is not something a high school student should be even touching, let alone driving. Yet here he is, speeding through intercity traffic with a pretty girl tightly hugging his waist in a picture of some fast and furious chase scene. 

 

It takes him just under an hour to get to the Northvale Medical Center, and after skidding to an impressive stop in the hospital driveway, Lay slides off the motorcycle and hurriedly pulls the helmet off of her head to hand back to Killua. And it’s a motorcycle movie scene if Killua’s ever seen one, with Lay’s hair falling out of the helmet and shaking it out. The all black outfit really just adds to aesthetic, and Killua feels like he’s been given a wrench to turn his masculinity up a couple notches. 

 

“Thank you, Killua. I owe you big time.” Lay says, out of breath as Killua takes the helmet and she pulls her glasses out of her pocket to slip onto her face. “Thank you, thank you.” she continues to say even as she runs into the hospital. 

 

After pulling off his own helmet and ruffling his hair out with his hand, he huffs a big sigh. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see a couple of girls and even guys staring at him from inside the reception area behind the glass doors of the medical center. Even a nurse or two gives him a double take as they pass by. It’s nothing he isn’t used to, but he feels kind of self-conscious now, since he doesn’t have anything else to do now that Lay’s inside. 

 

Slipping his helmet back on, he twists the clutch and makes his way out of the hospital driveway in case anyone tells him to stop blocking incoming cars or builds up the courage to talk to him. 

  
  
  
  
  


Four hours later, Lay trudges onto the first floor of the medical center, clenching and unclenching her fingers after spending a good hour squeezing them in worry as the surgery was happening, and then the rest of the time just holding her father’s hand in hopes that he would wake up. Thankfully, he did, otherwise Lay wouldn’t be down here right now after being scolded to get something to eat. 

 

But just as she’s about to head to the reception desk to ask where the nearest eatery is, she catches sight of a conspicuous silver-blonde head. Well, it’s hard to miss him, since half of the people in the room are glancing in his direction. Who can blame them? A handsome guy with a tight leather jacket and eyes as blue and sharp as a periwinkle ocean, tossing a yo-yo around with a bored expression as if he’s mastered the simple toy long ago -- it’s as if he came out of a movie screen.

 

“Killua,” Lay’s voice breaks the boy out of his bored daze and he sits up immediately, eyes alert. “Have you been here the entire time?” she asks incredulously.

 

“No,” Killua holds up a Subway bag, “I uh… you weren’t answering your texts, so I figured you must have been preoccupied. And… hungry. So uh… here.” he looks away, blushing slightly as he holds the bag out. 

 

Lay blinks before melting into a smile. She walks up to him to take the bag and sit down beside him, “Thanks.” It’s as if they both know she doesn’t need to say anything more. All the extra stuff is clear in her eyes and tender, appreciative smile. 

 

Clearing his throat, Killua hands over a water bottle as well, before turning away and leaning back in the chair again. Lay gratefully takes the bottle and opens it to take a sip right away. “So uhm… How’s your dad?” Killua asks awkwardly. 

 

“He’s stable. No serious head injuries, bones should all heal properly with time and maintenance, and he even had enough energy to mouth off at me for staying here so long on a school night.” Lay chuckles a little. 

 

“That's good to hear. Must've been a heavy shocker.” Killua allows himself a small smile as he watches Lay take her first bite out of the sandwich. 

 

“You're telling me. I'm just glad that nothing serious happened. Jesus, I can't believe my dad actually pulled that shit again though. He is way too old for this.” Lay huffs. 

 

“DUI?” Killua guesses. Unfortunately, her dad has had several legal cases concerning incidents like that, based on what Killua has seen at his family’s law firm in the past several years.

 

With a confirming nod, Lay swallows the bite she took and takes a swig of the water, “I can't believe there is this much drama that happens in the family when you're married to a celebrity. Like what the fuck? Does he think that just because I'm almost of age and mom is successful that he can just recklessly do whatever the hell he wants? He can be such a kid sometimes.” 

 

“Yeah, that must be disappointing. But hey, at least you know he's free spirited.” Killua makes his own effort to lighten the mood. 

 

“Sure?” Lay raises an eyebrow before taking another bite, “I guess this freedom must be like a dream compared to how your dad treats you.” 

 

Killua had told Lay overtime in small snippets about his family’s expectations for him. How he has to attend company meetings every so often to show his face around the law firm, listen to his dad go on about each and every case he works with at the dinner table, and even shop for business wear twice a year. Sometimes his dad even has a driver pull him out of practice just to do some random observations that he feels will help Killua. 

 

“Everyone’s got their own battles…” Killua says thoughtfully. He’s come to accept the fact that his mouth kind of just runs off on its own when he’s around Lay. 

 

“Thanks for coming all the way out here for me, Killua.” Lay chooses this moment to say, “I really owe you big.” 

 

“I mean, how could I say no when you kind of just chased me down and shook me by the collar.” Killua jokes, lifting one side of his face in a smirk. Lay bumps his shoulder with hers, chuckling with him.

 

“I mean it, though. I got you next, whatever you need.” she promises with a sincere smile that makes Killua’s heartbeat pick up just a little. He quickly looks down at the floor and clears his throat. 

 

The silence goes on for another couple moments as Lay chews on her sandwich, until Killua finally decides, “Hey, uh… about that actually…” 

 

“Hm?” Lay turns to him again. Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she asks, “You’ve got something in mind already?” she smiles playfully, almost eagerly.

 

Killua stalls for another couple seconds, clearing his throat, scratching the back of his head, almost blushing because he can’t believe he’s about to ask this, “I… want you to give Gon a chance.”

 

“... What?” Lay deflates. She was sure that Killua was opening up to her, and developing feelings for her like she was for him. Had she been reading their interaction wrong this entire time with all the meaningful conversations and exchanged jokes? Was he really not that into her? Or did he really want her to be with his best friend instead?

 

“Look, he’s a great guy. Everyone can see that. And he… he really likes you.” Everything Killua is saying is true, and he really believes it, but he doesn’t understand why he’s getting so flustered, “He’s always talking about you and trying to make you happy, so why can’t you give him a chance?” 

 

Lay studies him for a minute, unable to comprehend all of the things she’s been seeing in Killua’s behavior with the words he’s expressing now. But it’s not like she can try to put the words she was imagining, or maybe even hoping for, into his mouth for him. So finally, she asks, “Is that… really what you want?”

 

Unclenching his teeth, he puffs out, “Yeah. Come on, you told me you owed me, right?” Killua smirks, but there isn’t the usual sharpness to it. If anything, it’s almost melancholic. “Just go on a couple of dates with him, get to know him more. It’d make him happy and probably get the team to shut up about fighting over you.” 

 

The way Lay kind of just blinks at him is kind of solemn, as if she’s kind of disappointed in him, “So you’re using this big, no-questions-asked favor from me for the good of your team, captain?” Lay decides to play off her emotions for the time being. 

 

“Not for the team, for my best friend.” Killua says more decisively this time around, looking up to meet Lay’s eyes head-on, “I mean it. It would mean the world to him if you’d give him a chance.” 

  
  


*

  
  


And so it goes, Lay accepts Gon’s next invitation to go out on a more intimate date. He had been asking her to hang out outside of their usual study dates and smoothie stops, but he was always shot down in one way or another. So Gon is incredibly nervous and excited when he waits for her by the entrance of the local park that leads to the hiking trail he’s going to take Lay through. 

 

When he sees her turn up in her cute hiking gear, that is surprisingly not black, his eyes light up and he bites his lip before waving her over. “Hey,” she greets the quarterback. 

 

“Hey, so glad you made it.” he says in his charming, smooth voice. “Shall we?” 

 

“Lead the way, Mr. Mountain Child.” she waves her hand forward. Gon tries to keep his smile as reasonably sized as he can before he slips his hand into Lay’s and guides her towards the pathway. 

 

They make idle conversation and jokes about what’s going on in their lives, and the atmosphere is friendly and happy like it usually is between them. The warmth of Gon’s hand in hers really isn’t an unwelcome sensation, so Lay allows herself to enjoy the date as it goes on. It’s not until their first rest stop about two miles into the forest that Gon drops the question, “So why’d you say yes this time?” 

 

“Hmm?” Lay hums through a mouthful of water, “You don’t think your charm just finally got through to me?” she smiles playfully, nudging his shoulder with hers. 

 

“I mean, I’ve always had loads of charm.” Gon nudges back before interlacing his fingers into hers again, “I was just wondering what finally changed your mind?” 

 

Lay stares out into the forest for a little while before revealing, “If you must know, you were  _ highly _ recommended by an acquaintance of mine. And he absolutely  _ insisted _ that I give you a fair chance to woo me.” 

 

Gon’s laugh seems to brighten up the entire forest, turning birds’ heads and waking the trees with his pure smile and amber eyes, “Killua? Did he really?” Gon asks, squeezing Lay’s hand as if he can’t believe that this moment is real. 

 

“Yeah.” Lay shrugs, “I figured if he was that dedicated to his wingman duties, then I should probably heed his advice. See what you’ve got for me.” Lay leans in close with a smile that’s all teeth and almost closed eyes just to make Gon blush. 

 

But the quarterback doesn’t back down, and daringly chuckles as he leans his forehead to rest against Lay’s, pushing the bill of her cap back a bit as he gets a look deep into her eyes. She had foregone the glasses today, thinking it’d be a hassle with all the sweat that would drip down her face. But maybe it wasn’t as great an idea as she had thought. 

 

She knew Gon was bold, but sometimes she forgets how drastically different he can be from Killua. The silver-haired captain probably would have shied away and started blushing if she leaned in that close, but Gon is the type to face a challenge head-on with his emotions on full display. An open book that Lay can choose to sift through page by page, and read into every detail of. The way he stares deeply into her eyes is almost staggering; she can see the raw emotion and unfiltered want in his bright amber eyes. 

 

“I better fulfill those expectations then.” Gon whispers, his breath fanning across her mouth and making Lay’s heart beat just a little faster. 

 

Clearing her throat, she pulls away from Gon’s intimate gaze. The moment was all too sudden and dense with emotion, she wonders if she can really handle this unrestrained side of Gon. “Why don’t we start heading up the trail again?”

 

“Okay!” Gon agrees eagerly, incredibly pleased that his advances seemed to have an effect on Lay, judging by the small blush coloring her cheeks. 

 

It takes them another hour to get to the top of the small mountain they’re climbing, but Gon had led them through a small detour by cutting through some thick underbrush and tall trees. Daylight came in through smaller apertures between the thick leaves of the tree branches, but the air was clearly cleaner in this neck of the woods. And to top off reaching the peak, they climb a tree! 

 

“I’ll be right below you in case you slip or anything,” Gon promises.  _ If I’m not too preoccupied by your cute ass in those shorts _ , he mentally adds.

 

It’s a challenging climb up, and Lay actually does almost slip several times, but Gon gives her all the right tips and directs her to cling onto the right sections of the tree until they make it to the top. Gon chooses the sturdiest branch and helps Lay sit up on it beside him to look out into the vast horizon of forest and city before them. “Oh… my god.” Lay’s breath falters as the smile grows on her face, “Gon, I cannot believe you! This is incredible.” 

 

“Isn’t it?” Gon smiles out into the view between the branches.

 

“How did you even find a spot like this?” Lay takes her phone out to snap a photo, unable to breathe in this gorgeous view even with all the fresh air lingering about her. 

 

“Well, you know I grew up in a pretty rugged area without much city life around. Whenever I get a little sentimental I just hike around here and climb up the tallest tree I see.” Gon says nonchalantly, “This isn’t my favorite spot to go, but it’s pretty high up there. I’d say it has the second most beautiful view in the city.” 

 

Lay can feel herself falling into a trap, but she asks anyway, “What’s the most beautiful view in the city, then?” 

 

Gon simply turns his head away from the view and smiles at Lay, who stares back before it clicks. She spits out a laugh before gently hitting Gon’s arm, “I will knock you off this tree, you are too much.” she cackles.

 

“What?” Gon laughs back, leaning back towards Lay to lean his hand against the tree trunk to keep his balance on the branch they’re sitting on. 

 

“How many times have you used that one? Tell me.”

 

“What?” Gon laughs again, this time in a way as if saying ‘don’t make me say it~’ 

 

“Come on, how many.” Lay demands, putting a persuasive hand on Gon’s taut stomach, her palm warming up his navel as she looks up into his eyes. 

 

“Honestly…?” Gon asks, although his breathing trembles a bit as Lay’s hand travels slowly up his chest.

 

“Honestly.” Lay matches Gon’s whisper as her hand rests on his toned, muscular chest.

 

“Hmm… I’ve only used it on one other woman…” Gon says with a secret smile, like he won’t say anything more. 

 

“Is that so?” Lay begins trailing her hand down his torso again, making Gon bite his lip in anticipation and his head spin with adrenaline and desire. “Would you care to tell me who this… ‘other woman’ is?” the tips of her fingers play with the hem of Gon’s shirt, and the small instances in which her knuckles brush against the skin of his waist set Gon’s body on fire. 

 

Biting back a groan, Gon takes Lay’s wrist and gently pulls it away from his waist, afraid that she might brush against something else and invite a not-yet-welcome friend to join the party. “How about you get a question now?” he turns it on her instead, wrapping his arm around her waist and resting his big, warm hand on her hip, slowly, tantalizingly rubbing his thumb on the small sliver of exposed skin where her shirt rode up, “Are you still into Zushi?” 

 

Lay can’t help but burst out laughing at that one, “Zushi?” 

 

“It’s a valid question!” Gon argues. 

 

After getting one last giggle out, Lay says, “No, I can’t say I am still into Zushi. We’re pretty close, but he’s like a little brother to me now.” 

 

“Alright, good.” Gon can’t help smiling, “I don’t need anymore competition from the team.”

 

“Who says he’s the only competition on the team?” Lay jokes.

 

“What? Are you serious?” Gon clamors, outraged, but he’s still smiling because Lay is still leaning into his touch, and he loves the feel of her skin under his fingertips, “Who?” 

 

“Nuh-uh, it’s your turn.” Lay shoots him down, “You said earlier that this isn’t your favorite spot to go. Where is your favorite spot, then?” 

 

Another mischievous smile curls at the corners of Gon’s lips again, and he leans in to whisper into Lay’s ear, “That’s for the next date.” 

 

Lay can’t help it, she bites her lip in a smile, suppressing a giggle at all this attention she’s receiving. She’s basking in it and Gon is eager to please. This is more fun than she ever would have imagined. 

 

“So who’s this other competition I should be worried about?” 

 

Lay falters as a flash of silver hair and blue eyes darts across her mind, but she bounces back with another mischievous giggle, “No one~” she singsongs.

 

“Aw, Lay. Come on…” Gon whines, nosing her temple.

 

“Nuh-uh.” Lay resists.

 

“Laaaayyyy,” Gon groans into her ear, deep and throaty, and Lay’s face suddenly bursts into red as her mind wanders into uncharted territory with the way Gon is calling her name. 

 

She yelps and jumps away from his lips, losing her balance and almost falling backward and bringing Gon down with her with the way she flails and flaps her arms. Luckily, Gon manages to brace his arm against the tree trunk and catch most of her weight by wrapping his arm around her waist from the front, “Whoa there.” Gon says, as solid as a rock. Is it bad that he likes the feeling of Lay’s arms wrapped tightly around his chest at this moment? 

 

“Oh my god…” Lay takes a few calming breaths before letting Gon sit her back on the tree branch properly. “Thank you,” she breathes after returning to her original sitting position, “You’re a real wild child, Gon Freecs.” 

 

“Not just in the woods either.” Gon murmurs slyly. 

 

“What was that?” Lay guffaws.

 

“Nothing.” Gon smiles innocently, “You hungry?” 

 

Lay narrows her eyes at the quarterback, but she feels like she won’t get that out of him even if she pries this time. So she drops it, “Starved…” 

 

After Gon hands her a neatly wrapped, homemade sandwich from his backpack, he keeps an open water bottle in his hand while he eats his own sandwich with his other hand. They share the bottle between them whenever they need a sip, but Lay feels like she might just inhale the entire thing before she remembers to hydrate herself, “This is delicious! Did you make it?” 

 

“My Aunt Mito. She’s a great cook, but unfortunately, I never really caught on to her skills.” Gon smiles, elated that Lay enjoys something made by the most important person in his life. He wonders when it would be appropriate to introduce them to each other, not at all ashamed that he’s already thinking this far ahead. 

 

“Well, do you think she’d let me in on the secrets to this sauce she uses? I’m dying here.” Lay gushes, unable to wait for her next bite. 

 

“I’ll ask. But you know there are some secrets that are worth protecting.” 

 

“Oh? And what kind of worthy secrets do you have, Gon Freecs?” 

 

“Nothing I won’t share with the right person.” he winks. Lay doesn’t know if she can take any more of this. Gon Freecs is too fucking charming for his own good. At this rate, she might really just fall right into his amber abyss. 

 

“This is crazy.” she can’t help sighing somewhat blissfully.

 

“What?” 

 

“I’m eating a sandwich on top of the tallest tree in the city with the star quarterback of our school’s football team. Talk about a wild dream.” Lay shakes her head a little bit. 

 

Gon just laughs, unable to hide how flattered he is. “I mean, hey,” Gon shrugs, “It’s gotta be at least this much if I’m gonna impress Layla Bellamy, daughter of a great entertainer who’s probably already experienced plenty of amazing things.”

 

“I’ll admit, I have seen quite a lot of things, but I’ve never met one like you, Gon.” Lay smiles, “Can’t say that unsolicited tree climbing is the most popular spot for the first date.”

 

“Then I guess I’ve succeeded in making myself stand out.” Gon smiles proudly. 

 

“Trust me, you don’t need to bring me to the tallest tree in the forest to make yourself stand out.” Lay looks down thoughtfully at her sandwich.

 

“What do you mean by that?” the quarterback chuckles.

 

“Oh come on.” Lay acts as if she’s exasperated, but she’s still smiling, “Star quarterback? Most popular name on the girls’ bathroom doors? A family man and a gentleman? Need I go on?”

 

“Don’t let me stop you.” Gon’s grin is unstoppable. 

 

Lay nudges him with her elbow for that, “My point is, you’re like the campus crush, Gon Freecs. You can have anyone you want, and yet, I’m the one who’s here with you. I’m probably living the dream for half the school right now.”

 

“Well, you weren’t really a part of that half at first.” Gon mentions, “I mean, I thought I was making it pretty obvious that I was into you for a while. I still don’t really understand why you had a change of heart. I know you said Killua put in a good word for me, but what is it, really?”

 

Lay takes time to formulate her answer, staring down at her sandwich, “I guess… After my dad got into that accident, I was kind of just reminded that… life is short, y’know? So I might as well take as many chances while I can.” 

 

With that answer, Gon sets the water bottle down between his thighs and squeezes Lay’s hand in his, “Then I'll make it a chance you never regret taking.” 

 

After they finish lunch and chat for another hour or so to let the food settle in, they make their way back down the tree to return to the hiking trail. But this time, as they hold hands and play footsie games along the forest and make several stops just to let Gon prove his strength in lifting Lay off the ground, there’s a new intensity to their flirting. It’s not just the friendly giggles and playful touches anymore. Every motion of Gon’s body against Lay’s means business. He makes it clear enough that he’s being very intentional, and Lay reciprocates in a way that she hadn’t before. 

 

They make it down to the bottom without incident, and Gon drives her back home. He even makes a show of walking her all the way to the door. Or, well… the tall gate that leads into the driveway of her family’s mansion. “Thanks for today, Gon. I had a spectacular time.” Lay says, squeezing his hand as she turns her entire body to face him. 

 

“So did I. Thanks for… giving me a chance.” Gon says in a low voice as he tucks a stray lock of hair that fell out of her cap behind her ear. He takes his time leaning in, raising the tension between their bodies and the excitement in their eyes, “I’d… really love to take you out again soon.” his voice lowers an octave deeper, if that’s even possible.

 

Lay bites down the smile pulling at her cheeks, “Okay.” she murmurs shyly, the most timid gesture that Gon has ever seen from her. 

 

Gon touches his forehead against Lay’s, pushing the bill of her cap back and piercing her dilated eyes with his own, just like he had earlier that afternoon in the tree. Lay returns the strong gaze until she can't take it anymore, and lets her eyelids become hooded, subconsciously leaning her mouth closer to Gon’s. But the quarterback only offers her a small smile and a tender, “Good night.” before pulling back, letting her soak in her dissatisfaction. 

 

There is really nothing more that Gon wants than to kiss her deep and slow and never let her go, but he knows that with this girl, he has to go slow. It took him this long to get to her, so he isn't going to jump too quickly into anything. He wants her to feel how much he wants her, and for her to feel the same, and then leave her wanting him more. So he’ll make do without a kiss tonight if it'll make Lay remember the anticipation and come back to him for more again. 

 

And judging by the disappointed look on her face, and the reluctant “Good night” she returns to him, he's got a foot in her door. Now he just has to wait to take his careful steps inside. 

 

Gon waits until she’s opened the door to her large house before driving home, but as soon as he's on the road, he's speeding home. The moment he gets back, he is locking himself in his room and jerking himself off to the memory of every teasing touch Lay left on his skin today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you know where i stole that 'most beautiful view in the city' line from, hug me. (hint: somewhat related to the chapter title)
> 
> also, look forward to another little bonus soon~ ^^ will be posted by tomorrow.


	8. Bonus - Call Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gon gets home after the date fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a little shorter than the other bonus, but it's just another little dash of smut for the time being as we approach more drama. i hope you enjoy :)
> 
> chapter title is a song by jessica sanchez btw

After greeting his Aunt Mito and providing a hurried answer to her question about how the date went, Gon dashes up to his room and locks his bedroom door before throwing his backpack to the ground, yanking his shorts down to his knees, and collapsing to the floor and pressing his torso against the side of his bed. His hand immediately slides down to his half hard cock, and his other hand moves to caress skin at his waist, trying to imitate Lay’s feather touches on him today. 

 

The images of Lay’s face so up close to his and smiling so beautifully as she touched him drives him into full hardness the more he strokes at himself. Gon grips hard at the base of his cock as he imagines Lay’s voice whispering his name into his ear, letting out a cautious breath at the pleasure building up in his groin.

 

He conjures up the image of Lay in her adorable hiking outfit today, with the short shirt, tight shorts, and cute cap covering her eyes. Gon can imagine himself running his hands down every curve of that taut body of hers, latching onto that memory of his fingers on the skin on her waist. Now he's lifting his hands higher up her waist, her shirt riding up as both his palms move along her smooth sides and rub small circles onto her stomach. As he imagines the small noises Lay will make, the look of dazed pleasure in her hooded eyes as she tilts her head back to bring her lips to his, Gon’s hand stokes languidly at his cock that's now forming a drop of precum. 

 

Looking down at that drop of precum escaping his dick, he imagines Lay’s pretty face down in front of it, the chime of her giggle still echoing in his mind from this afternoon. Gon wants to see her smiling up at him from that height, with her nimble hand on his cock over his, leaning forward to kiss and lick the bead of precum away. It's even easier to imagine her mouth taking him whole when Gon closes his eyes and pumps slowly and moves his thumb wherever he wants Lay’s tongue to go.  “Fuck…. Lay…” he groans into his bed sheets, his face pressed against them. 

 

“Gon…” his hallucination replies in a sultry, quiet voice that's been weighed down by the tension of sex. Gon calls back to her, and she lifts her hands up to palm at his abs and chest, praising him, telling him how hard he must have worked for this body, how it makes her so  _ wet _ . “God…” he curses. 

 

Fantasy Lay takes off her shirt and shorts, and her underwear, but she leaves the cap on for whatever reason. “Come on…” Gon replays the small phrase Real Lay had actually whispered into his ear today as Fantasy Lay spreads herself open for him on top of his bed. “Gon…” she beckons, one hand sliding down to finger herself while the other pulls at a hard nipple. Her eyes are hooded by the shadows of her cap’s bill, but he can tell that this fantasy is having a hell of a good time with her lip between her teeth. 

 

“Lay… Beautiful…” Gon mumbles into his sheets as he fists his cock harder and faster as he approaches Fantasy Lay’s dripping pussy with it. His hand is nothing compared to how amazing he would imagine Lay’s walls to feel around him. The moans in his mind will never compare to the gorgeous sounds of Lay’s actual voice as she moans for him. Her look of desperation and neediness can't compete with the sweet eyes that Gon has seen up close. And he knows that the needy kiss he plants on this imagined version of Lay won't even come close to the actual press of those beautiful lips against his. 

 

Oh, he can't wait until the day he'll be able to kiss her. Kiss her and tell her exactly how he feels every day, holding her in his arms and showing the world that she's finally his. He can't wait until the day that Lay kisses him first in front of all his friends, willingly falls into his arms to go to sleep, greets his family with a familiarity built up on countless visits. And it's this image of Lay returning Gon’s feelings and embedding herself into a part of his life that sends him over the edge. He gasps as he shoots out several ropes of white onto the side of his bed and part of the floor, continuing to stroke himself until his orgasm has completely passed, imagining Lay doing it for him. “God… I love you…” he confesses into the sheets. 

 

The images of Lay’s expectant face when he left her on her doorstep are still fresh in Gon’s mind, and he will bank on that look to look forward to his fantasies coming true to some extent in the future. After his pulse calms down, Gon pulls his shorts back up and cleans up the mess on his bedside. 

 

After putting away some of his hiking gear and flopping onto his bed with his hands behind his head, Gon wades in the aftermath of his self-indulgence. This is not the first time he's imagined Lay opening up for him, by far. He feels kind of guilty for imagining her in that kind of compromising position, like he only wants her body. But he can’t bring himself to regret the dozens of times he's gotten off to the image of Lay in his arms, because he wants so much from her. He wants everything. 

 

He wants her sweet smiles, her hot body, her secret giggles, her moments of weakness, her deepest emotions. He wants to understand all of those small inside jokes she makes with Killua, and to understand all the complications of her family and situation that are eating at her. He wants to help her build the confidence she needs to put her glasses away for good so she can perform the way she loves. He wants her to trust him… to want to share everything with him… to want him as much as he wants her. He wants this Fantasy Lay to come to life, to actually want to present herself to him. 

 

Gon groans as he feels himself getting hard again. Normally he'd preoccupy himself with some activity or homework to will it away, but the way Lay kept whispering into his ear and coming close to his face and brushing her fingers against him today are all still too clearly ingrained into his memories. He curses as he pulls his shorts and boxers down to his knees once more, gripping his cock tightly at the base. He lets this Lay in his memories continue calling his name as he strokes himself back to life. 

 

He's in the midst of imagining a sweaty and delightfully exhausted Lay on top of him, riding his cock like she means it, when his phone rings. Now, in any normal circumstance, he'd ignore a call while he's in the middle of some self love. But when he sees Lay’s caller ID on his screen, he doesn't think twice before answering, “Hello,” he says in a gravelly voice before clearing his throat, the sound of it making him realize what's he's done. He's fucking talking to Lay while he's jerking himself off. 

 

“Gon? You okay?” her voice chimes through the phone, and Gon wants to hear it right beside him, in the same room as he's doing this. 

 

“Yeah, I just got home like twenty minutes ago. What's up?” he keeps his breathing even for just those sentences. 

 

“Oh, that's good. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe.” She did? How sweet, Gon thinks. 

 

“I did. But here I am, still thinking about you.” What an understatement. As if to prove it, he gives himself a very thorough stroke from hilt to head. 

 

“I'm thinking about you too.” Lay admits, surprising Gon a bit. 

 

“Oh yeah?” he chuckles. 

 

“Not like you gave me a choice, after you left me kind of high and dry out there on my doorstep.” Gon can hear the slight resentment in her voice, which makes him even more giddy. 

 

“Hm~? I don't know what you're talking about.” he teases, stroking up and down again. 

 

“Shut the fuck up, Gon Freecs.” And somehow, that whip-like tone in her voice sends a shock of excitement through to Gon’s stomach. A flash of lace and leather and ropes appears before Gon’s closed eyes as he drags his hand up to the head of his cock and massages it with his thumb. “I felt so humiliated. My mom was home and she was watching through the window. When I came home, she grilled me about how she didn't see any action!” 

 

“You saying you wanna show her some action then?” Gon chuckles throatily, and Lay can feel it resonating into her stomach through the phone. 

 

“Oh god, no. My mother does not need to see or hear anything about what goes on with my dates.” Lay cringes. 

 

“What kind of things are going on that she can't see or hear about?” Gon smirks, face flushed with excitement at hiding his terrible act of serendipity from Lay as he casually converses with her. 

 

“Oh.” Lay is caught off guard, and she can't think of a way to escape because of the inappropriate conclusions she's thinking up. “Well… uhm…” she stutters. 

 

“Mhmm?” Gon hums satisfactorily, letting Lay’s flustered voice carry him towards his peak as he picks up the pace with where the conversation is going. 

 

“I don't know, I'll think about that when the time comes.” Lay cops out, making Gon chuckle. “But anyway, I'm glad to hear that you're home safe.” 

 

“Okay. Thanks for calling, babe.” Gon lets slip the word in his haze of pleasure before he can stop himself. 

 

“Huh?” Lay sounds like she's gotten more flustered, “O-Oh, sure. Kay, uhm… good night.” she finishes more quietly, sweetly. Gon can imagine her voice by his ear as if her body is hovering right on top of his. 

 

“G’night.” 

 

He makes sure to hang up and lock his phone before dropping it beside his pillow and bringing his free hand to double team at his attempt to create his poor imitation of Lay’s heat on his dick. Twisting in different directions and using slightly different paces with each hand, Gon closes his eyes to better envision Lay sucking and stroking him, or Lay rolling her hips up against his, or Lay bouncing on top of him like he's a trampoline. As he struggles to decide which image to focus on, he meets his orgasm before he realizes. In a flash of white, Gon comes all over his hands and stomach. 

 

It takes him longer to recover this time, since Lay’s voice through the phone is still ringing in his ears. But when his breathing finally settles, he cleans himself off a second time and fixes himself up just in time for Aunt Mito to call him down for dinner. 


	9. You'll Never Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killua and Lay attend Gon's family dinner and shit goes down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait, everyone who's still reading. it's been a busy week at work for me so i haven't had time to sit down and edit the chapters before posting them. i'm also still figuring out how to play out a really climactic scene that's coming up, and it's only a couple chapters away... so i apologize in advance for any possible delays in the future! for now, i hope you enjoy this drama-packed chapter :) 
> 
> title is an ariana grande song that i felt fit the feeling of this chapter.

Killua thought that he could handle seeing Gon and Lay together and dating. He thought he would be perfectly fine with letting go of the only girl his age who seemed to understand him as long as his best friend was happy. He thought he'd be able to just see them happy together and take over the school as the hot new campus couple and get over it. And to a point, he was right. 

 

To a point. 

 

He can handle seeing all the hand-holding and stolen kisses between them. He can handle the proud and almost smug look on Gon’s face whenever someone brings up how he’s faring with bringing Lay into his bedroom. He can handle seeing Gon rush off to the tech team managing the speakers after a game so he can pick Lay up and spin her around before kissing her breath away to celebrate their win. He can handle all the winter ball photos and making fun of them when they make out on the dance floor. All of that, it kind of hurts, but Killua can handle it. 

 

What he can't handle, however, are the secrets looks that Lay gives him when they meet eyes and no one else is looking. The way she seems to freeze and her eyes become a little sad or solemn whenever she greets him alone in the hallway. The slight awkwardness in their conversations that was never there before. The small prickle in his spine that tells him that she's probably keeping an eye on him during a game. The way she still takes his advice to heart in order to slowly build up her confidence and graduate from her blind phase on stage. The fact that the small flash in her eyes whenever Killua joins them for a study session hasn't disappeared. 

 

All of those small gestures and longing glances that remind Killua that Lay still hasn't forgotten about him in the same way he hasn't been able to forget about her, they all hurt. They hurt a lot more than any meeting his father has ever made him sit in on and participate in. More than anything his grandfather has ever said to him about how his fate and future has been set in stone despite the fact that he would rather be an engineer. More than his outrage when his parents threatened to send his sister away to boarding school just to keep them apart. 

 

It hurts so much because despite how Lay seems perfectly happy being by Gon’s side and on his arm, Killua still wants her, and she still seems to want him back. It's already been about four months since her dad’s accident and Killua had pretty much pushed her into Gon’s arms. Four months of the same lingering gazes and sad smiles and Lay appearing in Killua’s dreams. It hurts to indulge in his dreams where he and Lay can talk and kiss and touch without restraint, only to wake up to a dark room and a hard-on he has to take care of himself. 

 

It hurts. But all he can do is swallow the pain and give Gon playful encouraging punches, like their Facebook pictures, and run away from his feelings by putting all his energy into football. Gon, as dense as he is sometimes, notices the restraint Killua seems to hold whenever he's around Lay now. But Killua plays it off as naturally as he walks now. You know, as well as you can walk with a sprained ankle, at least.

 

It's around the end of March, about a month before Spring Fling, that Killua gets wrapped up in some more drama after his temporary internship with one of the departments at his family’s law firm. Killua could have been going on road trips and spending his spring break partying up with his friends, yet he was stuck going to the law office building every day in a monkey suit to read through case files and organize evidence statements. 

 

After the employee who had been supervising Killua gave his parents such spectacular feedback about how well he did, his parents started bothering him about keeping the internship for a while longer. They argued that it would be a good way to build up his experience and show his face around the firm before he starts more serious work. But the internship would interfere with his football activities, and suddenly the small falling out became a dramatic outburst from Killua about how they never bother to consider his decisions and desires. 

 

So amidst his fuming, he kind of just haphazardly accepted Gon’s invitation to eat dinner with his family. It was one of their big monthly dinners where the relatives outside of town got together for a big dinner party, and this time, Mito was the one hosting it. Killua has been to several of Gon’s family dinners before, and sometimes it would be awkward having them all question him about his future and ask about his relationship status, but they were all sweet people. 

 

A hell of a better family than he had at the moment, he had figured. So he decided to join in on this family get-together on the Saturday evening before they had to go back to school after spring break vacation. Usually, Killua has fun at these dinners. The food is great, the people are nice, and they feed him some quality champagne despite his being underage. (Of course, they make him stay until he’s sobered up to go home.) He’s banking on Gon’s family’s good vibes to give him a good distraction from his own cacophony of a family. 

 

What he didn’t count on, however, was Lay showing up to the dinner as well. In retrospect, he really should have expected it, what with her dating his best friend for a good several months already. It should be nonsensical that she attends a gathering at Gon’s house to introduce herself since Gon is this serious about her. But when Killua is downing his first glass of white wine and Mito is chatting merrily with the girl who stole her nephew’s heart, Gon reveals that this is actually his first time bringing Lay around to meet his family. 

 

“She’s been asking me to put it off for a while, but I begged her extra hard because we’re the ones hosting it this time.” Gon swirls his wine glass around absentmindedly as he watches his aunt interact with his girlfriend, “She was still gonna refuse, but then she gave in when I told her you’d be here too. Seemed pretty relieved to hear that she’d have someone else to talk to if things ever got awkward.” 

 

Killua bites his inner lip hearing that news. He can’t help but wonder if that’s the only reason that Lay decided to show up to this dinner party, but he tries to swallow those thoughts with a few more sips of champagne. But his glass is refilled as soon as he finishes by another generous relative of Gon’s, and that’s kind of how the pattern goes for the rest of the evening as they eat dinner and chat idly at the table. 

 

Everyone gushes over what a beautiful and charming young lady Lay is, and clamors over how nice it is to see Killua again, and makes fun of Gon every chance they get. Lay laughs, Gon whines, Killua drinks. The food is spectacular and comes by the buckets, and the atmosphere is even better, with rambunctious laughter and endearing stories. Despite the occasional awkward eye contact with Lay, Killua has a good time soaking in the warm family ambience. 

 

All the guests help clear away the table when dinner is over, and they enjoy a scrumptious devil’s food cake made by Gon’s Aunt Mito before everyone starts migrating to different parts of the house to chat and drink and play games for a while longer. The largest group is gathered together in the living room where Gon, Lay, and Killua are seated on the floor with a few other younger cousins who are playing board games on the open space behind them. The other older relatives who are all seated on the sofa and couches had tried to get Gon and Lay to share an armchair aka have Lay sit on Gon’s lap, but the young’ins had insisted that they would be fine on the floor across the coffee table. 

 

“I heard it took Gon a while to finally get through to you, Lay.” Mito mentions, “Did he use his special trump card line about the ‘most beautiful view in the city’ on you?”

 

“As a matter of fact!” Lay laughs cheerfully with Mito, and Gon is smiling because they get along so well, but also blushing at the fact that Lay has discovered that the one other person he’s used that line on was his aunt. 

 

“So Lay, I hear that your mom is that big name star who's getting pretty popular on the radio.” another relative brings up, “I recently bought her CD and I absolutely adore it!”

 

“Well thank you so much for the support. I'll be sure to tell my mom to send her thanks.” Lay replies with a smile. The brightness of it contrasts interestingly with her dark outfit. She had chosen to wear black as usual, but she threw on a gray short-sleeved shirt to add just a splash of color. After taking off her jacket, it's hard for Killua to ignore the curves of her body in the tight cotton shirt and black jeans. And she had decided on wearing thinner frames today for her glasses to match her simple but family friendly look today. 

 

“Do you have any interest in your mother’s field of work? Or as a hobby?” one of Gon’s other aunts asks. 

 

“Yes, I do. I'm in theater tech, so I mainly do backstage stuff at school, but I do participate in a dance academy and get singing lessons every so often. And I try to play a few instruments whenever I can.” Lay answers casually, but the family reaction is unanimous with impressed fascination. 

 

“Lay actually performed a couple times for some school events. She was amazing.” Gon brags, unable to help the wide smile on his face. 

 

Killua supposes the lovesick goof can't help himself since he's always so open and honest with his family. They all react with similar excitement, but as Killua tilts his head mid-sip of his chaser soda, he notices the stiffness Lay’s smile and the hostile worry in her eyes. What's that all about?

 

“Uh… no, not amazing. I just did it as a favor. I actually have some pretty bad stage fright…” she admits.

 

“Yeah, but she doesn't let that stop her. Honestly, her stage presence is incredible. She actually first caught my attention when she sang for the Homecoming dance, this one really sweet song that kind of just… touches you out of nowhere, you know?” Gon continues gushing, leading the relatives to follow in his excitement, and making Lay look slightly more uncomfortable. 

 

“Well, what are we waiting for? We have a piano right here in the corner,” Mito gestures to the corner of the room behind them, “Would you do us the honor of singing a song?” 

 

“U-Uh, I actually don't really--” but it's too late. All the relatives are insisting and giving her encouraging pats and leading her towards the vertical console piano until she's seated in front of the wooden instrument. 

 

“Sorry ‘bout this, babe. But I believe in you. Knock ‘em dead.” Gon quickly kisses her cheek before heading to sit on the arm of the armchair his Aunt Mito occupies. 

 

“Y-Yeah…” she trembles, not visibly shaken, but Killua can see the discomfort in her eyes and posture. 

 

Lay can't really blame Gon for wanting to show her off. She's sang a few songs for him on the piano and guitar before when they were alone together, so he must think that performing in front of a few others mustn't be too big of a change. But the problem is the pressure is building up in her chest since she knows these are people she has to impress. 

 

Singing in front of the student body isn't bad because she doesn't know or interact with all of them, but this is her boyfriend’s family. Despite how she knows they wouldn't judge her, she still feels anxious to impress. The longer she stares at the keys and tries to remember all the notes she's read and played before and has memorized by heart, the more she just feels the eyes boring into her from around the entire living room. 

 

When she starts breathing more heavily, she knows that she has to do something before she causes a scene. She does not want to be remembered by Gon’s relatives as the girl who had a panic attack because she couldn't perform in front of a handful of people. On instinct, Lay slides her glasses back up to rest on her head, distorting her vision of the keys in front of her. 

 

It's strange, but it helps a little. She's not looking at everyone in the room, but she feels slightly more detached from them, which puts a little less pressure on her to impress if she imagines that they're all just strangers she'll never see again. But even as she begins to test out a few piano keys and play a few tunes to get a feel for the piano, she misses a few notes because she can't judge their sizes properly with her distorted vision. She only grows more nervous again when she hears a few expectant whispers and actual encouraging comments from the peanut gallery. 

 

Lay does her best to get into the rhythm of a song she's been practicing for a week and can play pretty well, but as she grows more nervous and hits a few more of the wrong keys, she feels herself panicking again. Pulling her fingers away from the piano, she covers her face with her hands in embarrassment, muffling an apology to the audience in the room as she tries to maintain control of her breathing. 

 

She can hear those confused and concerned whispers now, and she thinks, this is it. This is where she’s remembered as the little birdie who couldn't sing and is probably not as worthy of Gon as she could be. Lay is about to stand up from her chair and apologize when she feels fingers pull her hands away from her face. 

 

Then her glasses are suddenly replaced onto her face, and she can see Killua clearly through them as he leans against the side of the piano, shaking his head at her as if to say,  _ ‘No, you don't need that. You can do this just fine.’ _ Lay’s eyes communicate desperation that says it's not as easy as it sounds to just do it without a care in the world. 

 

But then Killua makes a signal. He points two fingers at Lay’s face and then brings his wrist back to point her gaze into Killua’s own sturdy, blue eyes. He establishes their eye contact to silently tell Lay to focus on him, use him as the crutch she needs, rely on him if she needs him. Just don't ruin the quality of her performance in order to save a little face. 

 

Taking a deep, calming breath, Lay nods nervously and gives Killua a small smile before trying again to press a familiar tune into her keys. Surprisingly, having Killua there as a sort of foundational presence to focus on helps her clear her head of the audience behind her. If she focuses on playing for only Killua, like she had that time they were in the music room together, she might be able to pull this off smoothly. After a few plays of the same set of notes, Lay finally gets the hang of her groove and finally begins [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVT565FdAII).

 

It's a beautifully calming song of seduction that still doesn't give too much away. And as she sings more, her voice grows stronger as it’s laced with confidence and passion. Killua patiently taps the side of the piano with his fingertip almost like a metronome, providing Lay with a sense of rhythm and foundation as she glances at him several times throughout the song to reassure herself that she'll be fine. There's someone right here who knows she has the potential to overcome her fears and do what she loves with confidence. 

 

When she finishes, she presses a line of keys for a dramatic finish before flicking her hands away from the piano. Her small audience claps, and she looks to Killua with endlessly grateful eyes, releasing a relieved “Thank you.” 

 

Instead of offering a smile back, Killua holds his fist up to her in a friendly, teamwork-type gesture, and Lay giggles before bumping her fist with his. The look on her face is so pure and beautiful that Killua’s heart skips a beat. He calmly walks back to his seat on the floor of the living room, awaiting the storm of questions his best friend must have for him. 

 

And as expected, Gon slides down beside him as soon as Lay’s attention is directed to the little girl who requests for Lay to play the “Wheels on the Bus” for her on the piano. Lay smiles and quickly accepts, sitting the girl onto the piano bench with her before she starts playing so the little girl can sing along. 

 

“Dude, how'd you do that?” 

 

Killua shrugs. 

 

“You just jumped right in there when she needed someone. It's like you know her better than I do.” Gon says incredulously. “I didn't realize her stage fright was still so bad. I'll have to apologize to her later.” 

 

“Nah, it's just easier to have a familiar thing to focus on when you're nervous.” Killua shrugs, “No one blames you, dude. I mean we all know how good Lay is, so it's hard to imagine or remember that anything would stop her.” 

 

“That's true. In any case, thanks a lot, Killua.” Gon slaps a hand on his best friend and captain’s shoulder, “What would I do without you?” 

 

“Probably nothing.” Killua shrugs playfully, getting a punch from Gon before he heads over to the piano. 

 

Killua sighs to calm himself down as he watches Gon lean over Lay’s shoulder and give her an apologetic kiss before whispering something to her so that his little cousin still sitting beside Lay won't hear. Lay returns the apologetic smile before accepting another kiss, and then she turns around to smile thankfully at Killua as she explains something to her boyfriend. Probably about how Killua had managed to help her just in time and be that pillar she needed in that moment. 

 

Killua could really use another drink right about now, but he knows he needs to be on the road in a little bit, so he'll refrain until he can drown himself in Jack when he gets home. So for now, he decides to head out into the backyard patio for a little air. Maybe the cool breeze will help take his mind off the fact that he's been watching Lay and Gon flirt a little too closely this entire evening. 

 

He greets the pair of uncles who are outside smoking but keeps to himself on his side of the patio, staring up at the moon to have his own focus point. The solitude is nice for a little while, but he's soon coming to realize that he feels more alone than he does relaxed. He's hiding away from a family that's not his own, his best friend, and the girl they both like, while he's in his best friend’s house. Killua starts to feel more pathetic by the minute. 

 

He almost feels relief when he hears someone step out into the backyard and lean on the railing beside him, until he realizes it's freaking Layla Bellamy. “Killua,” she calls to him in a soft, tender voice. 

 

Killua just hums a reply of acknowledgement, and Lay continues, “You really saved me back there. I can't thank you enough.” 

 

“S’nothing.” 

 

“Yeah, to you maybe. You don't know how much it meant to me for you to put yourself out there and help me out in front of Gon’s family like that.” she scoots a bit closer, until their arms are almost touching, “Thank you.” 

 

Killua can feel the density of the atmosphere thickening between them. He needs to find a way out of this, “What I don't get is how you can let your fear of disappointment get in the way of doing what you love.” Okay, maybe that was in insensitive way to put it, “You're not your mom. And no one expects you to be.” 

 

After a thoughtful pause, Lay speaks up again, “You always make it sound so easy, Killua. I'm not brave like you.”

 

“I wouldn't call it being brave.”  _ After all, I couldn't get myself to tell the girl I like how I feel. Or my family what I want.  _

 

“Whatever it is you want to call it, you still have enough of that drive to go for what you want instead of settling and wallowing in your own self-pity and fear. And I admire that. Wish I had some of it.” 

 

Killua stares intensely into the moon before looking down with a sigh, “I don't.” 

 

“Huh?”

 

“Despite how it may look, I don't go for what I want. I still let my parents force me to do law work and think that there's a chance I'm going to take over the firm.” Killua finds himself blabbering, like he usually did when he was talking to Lay. Fantastic. “There isn't, but I'm trapping myself now because I don't want to do it… but I also don't want to disappoint them.” 

 

“Killua,” Lay senses something wrong with the hard gaze that's appeared in the football captain’s eyes, and she puts a warm hand on his back. It makes him flinch, but he settles into it anyway. “Did something happen with your family recently?” 

 

“It's nothing you need to know about.” he has to stop himself before he starts laying out all of his secrets and feelings for Lay to see. He can't do that, not when she has Gon. 

 

“Come on, Kil.” He feels a shiver run down his back at the nickname, and he hates how his body likes it, “After what you did for me in there, I wanna help you in whatever way I can. I'm here for you.” 

 

Killua stays silent for a while, still kind of distracted by the last drops of alcohol in his system and Lay’s warm hand on his back. From this close, Killua can smell Lay’s perfume coming off of her skin. If he's brutally honest with himself, he wants to tell her. He wants to spill his feelings out to her as if she's always his confidante, and kind of pretend that they have a relationship where they don't have to hold back with each other. But he knows, he knows that if he lets himself think like that, then there might come a point where he crosses a line and does something he regrets. 

 

“Killua,” Lay calls, turning his head by pushing his cheek with her hand to have him face her. She waves two fingers between their eyes to establish eye contact just like Killua had earlier by the piano. “I'm here for you.” 

 

He takes a deep breath through his nose and leans a little more weight onto the railing before turning away to look at the grass and the pretty strung up lights out in the backyard. “I can't tell them no.” 

 

Lay waits patiently, carefully watching Killua’s expressions and letting him take his time, “... I've been doing internship work during break, and they think I've been doing such a good job that I should keep it part time. But then I'd probably have to give up football, and that's one of the only things I have that's mine.

 

“They've never bothered to listen to me when I want to say something about what I want to do that deviates from their expectations, but football has always been a common ground that I liked and they supported me doing. Now it's like they're taking away that one thing, and they don't even realize how much power they're trying to put over me. It's not even about just football! It's-- They-- ugh.” Killua ruffles his hair with his hand in frustration, which Lay silently thinks is quite adorable with his flushed cheeks. But she stays focused on the task at hand -- comforting her friend. 

 

“It's like they're telling you give up the one chance you thought you had of convincing them to let you do what you want to do.” Lay offers. 

 

“Exactly.” Killua huffs, stepping away to walk a few steps away from Lay on the patio before pacing towards her again, glaring angrily at the ground as he does so. “It's not like I haven't tried telling them either. They just filter out whatever it is that they don't want to listen to, fuck!” 

 

Lay just nods understandingly, waiting for Killua to vent more, but it seems like after almost a minute of silence and just the football captain’s heavy breathing, he has nothing more he wants to say. Sadly, Lay can empathize with his silence because she knows that even if he continues to rant about this, he might not ever change his parents’ minds. “Well, just do you, then.” Lay shrugs.

 

“The hell does that mean.” Killua deadpans. He doesn’t even know how to ‘do you’ sometimes. 

 

“I mean, it sounds like they’re being stubborn right now. But I’m sure that they won’t regret seeing you successful in the future, even if it’s different from how they expected. If they’re going to be upset anyway, then you might as well do what you want to do. They’ll get over it.” 

 

“It’s not that easy.” Killua shakes his head, mostly at himself. How is he going to break out of his own expectations before he can break out of his parents’? He’s always established this filial, prodigal role out of all his siblings for his family. Despite how he has older brothers who could easily excel in the field their family wants him to succeed in, Killua has always carried the burden of inheriting his father’s legacy. 

 

And until recently, when he had finally started thinking about what he himself wanted to do with his life, he hadn’t rebelled. It’d be impossible to tell how his family would take if it he revealed the truth to them since they’re the type of parents to threaten to send away their least favorite child forever. “I don’t think if you’d get it. All you have to overcome is yourself. You can take all the time you need with that. But I have my entire family and the company they’ve built up from the ground to think about throwing away.” 

 

It came out the wrong way, but Killua doesn’t have the energy to correct himself right now, nor the mental capacity to do it. But Lay tries to take the hit and continue fulfilling her role anyway, “Well, maybe it’s not the same, but I think it’s still worth a try. If you communicate with your family a little more, maybe you could work out a compromise. Like you can study what you want, but if it’s not actually for you, then you can return to the firm if you ever need.”

 

“And let them say ‘I told you so’? I’d be the family laughingstock. If I keep giving them that hope, then they’ll latch onto it. There is no way I’m spending the rest of my life in that firm building, but they still won’t be able to wrap their heads around the fact that I wanna diverge.” Killua is kind of just mumbling to himself now, almost unaware that Lay is listening to all of his jumbled thoughts without proper background reasoning for his intentions. 

 

“Well, what I’m trying to say is exactly what you’ve always been telling me; to give it a try and keep at it despite the hardship.” Lay insists, “It’s been hard for me, too. You saw what happened in there with the piano. It’s not easy, but I’m still trying.” 

 

“Well, what  _ I’m _ trying to say is that our two situations are different!” Killua snaps, standing back from the railing now, eyes angry despite not meaning to direct any of his boiling emotions at Lay, “I’m talking about my future with my family! It’s not as happy-go-lucky and accepting as Gon’s family is, okay? I have expectations to fill and my problem is that I’m suddenly telling them that I don’t want to fulfill them after all the investment they put into training me!” 

 

“Killua, calm down.” Lay says, looking worried. Both for Killua and for herself. 

 

But indirectly, that look kind of rubs Killua the wrong way. It’s a look he’s seen from his family before. A look that carried worry and disappointment for him not becoming what they thought he would be. A look that filled Killua with guilt for betraying his family, despite having given him everything as a child. 

 

“Whatever.” Killua huffs and shifts back to face the backyard again, gripping tightly onto the wooden railing, “Guess I thought you’d understand.” 

 

“I am trying to understand!” Lay bursts, “Just because our situations are different doesn’t mean I’m not trying to understand or be supportive.” 

 

“How would you?! You may try, but you can’t justify that it’s the same! You have a family that encourages creative expression and a community that helps you build that up! I’ve been told how to live my life since I was born. In what way would you possibly understand?”

 

_ No, no. _ He didn’t mean it. 

 

“Killua, that’s not fair.” Lay looks heartbroken, “I do have expectations to fulfill. They’re different, sure, but the pressure isn’t any less burdening compared to yours. I thought we had that in common, so we could understand each other.” 

 

“Well, maybe it’s not similar as I thought. Because I don’t see how you can compare your stage fright to something like the entire future of my family’s empire.” Killua glares into the dark sky. 

 

_ No, no, no!  _ He needs to shut the fuck up right now. 

 

And Lay’s next outburst tells him he’s right, “You know what? You’re being a real hypocritical jerk right now.” There’s fire in her eyes, but it’s doused in disappointment and sadness as well, “I’m trying to be a supportive friend right now, and you’re just pushing me away with meaningless excuses about how different we are. 

 

“How is it that you can tell me how you ‘don’t get how I let my fear of disappointment get in the way of doing what I love’ but you can’t take your own advice? You’re scared of disappointing your family, too. You know what you want, but you’re too scared to break away from their expectations and become your own person because of how you’ve been molded. Well, I was molded with expectations too, Killua.” Lay’s voice is raising now. 

 

“Yeah?” Killua challenges before he can shut himself up, “Go on, tell me what kind life-ruining effects has your little stage fright brought on you. How many High School Musical moments have you experienced where you’ve let a guy save your spotlight for you?” The bitterness he remembers from hearing that Zushi was all the motivation Lay needed to step on stage rushes up to his head at the absolute worst time. 

 

“Let a  _ guy _ save my spotlight?” Lay almost screams, “No  _ boy _ has  _ ever _ magically given me that Hollywood courage you seem to think is so easy to break through!”

 

At that very moment, Gon has dashed into the backyard patio from inside the house after hearing the escalating argument, “Hey, guys, what’s going on here?” he asks. But his concern goes unheard as Lay continues to go off at Killua. 

 

“Do you know how much time and effort and resources my mom has put into helping me build up my interest and passion for performance? Yes, she’s encouraged me, and so has everybody else who’s taught me to sing, or dance, or do anything else. How am I supposed to tell them that I can’t utilize all these skills they taught me or make them proud because I’m terrified of disappointing a crowd? You can’t just tell me to keep going for it and pick myself back up because this is pretty damn heavy, Killua.” 

 

“Lay! Killua! What is going on?” Gon tries again. 

 

The way she spits his name out like that with such acid and raw anger hurts Killua more than anything that he has had to go through before. More than seeing Lay and Gon together when he’d like nothing more than to have Lay in his own arms. More than the hopelessness he feels when he saw that Lay may still have had lingering feelings for him when she was with Gon. More than any time his family has ignored his feelings in interest of pushing their own agenda for him.

 

This hurts because she sounds like she really tried, but Killua had crossed a line he can never take back, and now she might hate him forever. And now, he may really have lost the only girl who has ever tried to-- no, who truly understands him. She can see right through him -- through his self-pity and hatred, his cowardice, his hypocrisy. And she still tried to reason with him and be his friend. Now, he’s probably destroyed all of that and ruined everything between them -- everything that was, and everything that could have been. 

 

“Well, even with all the help you get to carry that weight, it must not be enough if you can’t get over yourself too.” Killua hits his last nail on the coffin he’s built for himself. 

 

Lay looks like she’s about to come up with another outburst, but then Gon steps in between, forcing himself into their world of tension and anger and raw emotions, “Hey!” Gon puts one of his large hands on Killua’s shoulder and uses his body as a physical barrier to block Lay out of his vision, “Killua, you’re my best friend, but you can’t talk to my girlfriend that way.” 

 

His girlfriend. 

 

Right. Gon’s girlfriend. His best friend’s girlfriend, whose attention Killua is so desperately pining for that he’s willing to shout his personal frustrations into her face to get it. And now he may very well have ruined not only his friendship with Lay, but also his friendship with Gon. His best friend since middle school, who has accepted him and all his personal damage and even invited him to be a part of his own family. And now he’s gone and insulted Gon’s girlfriend in his own house. The two most important people he wanted to keep in his life, and now they might as well be gone. 

 

Gon turns around and puts his other hand on Lay’s shoulder before saying, “And babe, I’d really not like to hear you having it out with my best friend either. So can someone please tell me what is going on?” he looks between the two. 

 

Wow. Leave it to Gon to be the angel who’s too good to be true in a situation like this. Maybe Killua has hope after all. Which is why he has to get the fuck out of here before he messes anything up again with his big mouth. “I actually think I should go home.” he turns to make his way back into the house, only to be stopped by Gon’s hand on his arm. 

 

“Killua, stop. I don’t want you to be on the road while you’re like this.” And his big amber eyes that shout in concern for his best friend almost break Killua’s heart.

 

Killua sighs, shrugging out of Gon’s grip, “I’ll be fine.” he promises, finally showing some signs of calming down, “I’ll text you when I get home.”

 

“Are you absolutely sure? I can give you a ride no problem. You can pick up your bike tomorrow.” Gon pushes.

 

“I’m chill, dude.” Killua reassures him, “I’m not ready to talk about this right now. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for dinner.” 

 

Before Gon can even say his reluctant goodbye, Killua makes a beeline for the front door. He apologizes to the concerned looking group of relatives sitting in the living room and thanks them for inviting him before heading out. After throwing on his jacket, Killua takes a long, deep drag of the cool night air before slipping on his helmet and starting the engine of his bike. He takes off into the night with a lot on his mind but ruthless determination to make it home without causing any more damage. 

  
  
  


 

While meanwhile in the Freecs’ household, Gon is still trying to get a hold of what just happened from Lay, but she seems as unwilling to talk as Killua is. He came in during what sounded like a really intimate part of the conversation, so there might be some personal beef going on between the two. Gon has always known that Killua and Lay have had a special kind of connection of their own that he could never touch, but he was sure that it was a beneficial relationship between them. What had gone down between them that led to such a bad wrong turn?

 

“Lay, babe,” Gon says in his most soothing voice, cupping his girlfriend’s face in his hands and looking deep into her eyes, “Come on, you know you can tell me anything. And this is my best friend we’re talking about. You’re both so important to me, I want you guys to get along. Please, at least tell me there’s something I can do to help if you’re not going to tell me what happened right now.” 

 

Exhaling a long sigh out of her nose, Lay turns her body away from Gon with her crossed arms and stares into the backyard like Killua had earlier in the evening. She can’t believe that after sharing such a special moment in the living room that it all just went to shit with one conversation. There are too many things going on in her mind right now, and her feelings for Killua might slip out if she attempts to explain everything to Gon tonight. She’s still too strung on her emotions and the lingering effects of the alcohol she sipped on. She can’t do that to Gon. 

 

After a long pause, she finally says, “I think I should go home for tonight, too.” 

 

“Lay…” 

 

She uncrosses her arms and turns back to face Gon full-on, cupping his face in her own hands this time, “I’m really, really sorry about tonight. For all of it. You can blame it all on me if you have to.”

 

“Lay, come on. You know I’m not going to do that.” Gon rests one of his hands on top of hers, letting the other rest on her hip. 

 

“I know you wouldn’t, but I’m still sorry. Can you take me home? Please?” she says the last part softly, timidly. And Gon can’t ever say no to his girlfriend when she speaks in a voice like that. It’s the only sign of her vulnerability that she ever shows to him, and he constantly has to show her that he’s worthy of seeing it. He wants to prove that he is worth her all. 

 

So despite the upset and the storm he’s probably going to have to deal with later on with his family, and the sleepless night he’ll probably have to go through, he sucks it up and decides to have faith in being patient. “Okay…” he says. 

 

After driving Lay home, Gon tries to prolong the goodnight kiss to at least relieve some of her tension, but Lay pulls away and apologizes one last time before heading inside with a promise of calling him later. 


	10. Habits (Stay High)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of the dinner party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the first installment of a double update, so hopefully you read this one first. sorry for taking a friggin month to update, but i hope those of you who are reading still remember what's going on? i hope you enjoy both parts of this update :)

Killua was going to apologize, really he was. After going home and stewing in all kinds of regrets and beating himself up, mentally and quite literally, all he could think about was how to apologize to Lay for saying all the shit he did. And after a practically sleepless night, he went for a morning run, then a long ride out of the city for lunch in a quiet place where he could stew more, before he drove himself to Gon’s house in the afternoon. He figured he owed his best friend an explanation first before he asked him for advice to apologize to his girlfriend. 

 

Gon’s grandmother was the one who let Killua in, telling him that Mito was out shopping for groceries. “We still have so many leftovers, but that girl still wants to make more food!” 

 

So Killua let himself up to the second floor and made his way over to Gon’s room. The thing about being Gon’s best friend, there’s usually no hesitation. Killua can’t recall the last time he knocked on his friend’s door before opening it. 

 

But that’s because he’s never walked in on something he shouldn’t have before. And when he sees Gon with his knees on the bed, holding Lay on top of his hips and pressing her back against the wall as he thrusts inside of her, it’s clear that he has walked in on something he shouldn’t have. 

 

Gon has his face buried in Lay’s neck and he’s pushing against her with slow, deep thrusts. Lay is facing Killua but her eyes are closed and her head is tilted back, and there’s relatively loud music playing in the background, so they must not have heard him open the door since they don’t seem to be stopping for any reason. 

 

Killua quickly closes the door again before they can catch sight of him and he runs down the hall and out of the door of the Freecs’ household before anything else happens. And after speeding home and locking himself into his bedroom, Killua sits on his bed and clutches his shirt where his heart is, wondering why it’s beating so quickly, why he’s still breathing so harshly. 

 

When he closes his eyes, all he sees is them. The look of blissful pleasure on Lay’s face at the feeling of Gon inside of her, the sight of her legs wrapped tightly around his best friend’s waist and her arms around his shoulders, the seamlessness between their two bodies as they gave each other pleasure, over and over. Killua presses his palms against his closed eyes and rubs at them, willing the images to blur away. 

 

And when he pulls his hands away, he sees that they’re wet. 

 

He’s crying. 

 

Of course he’s fucking crying. He just saw the girl of his dreams getting fucked by his best friend. And it fucking hurts. He’s crying and it hurts to hold the sobs back more than it does to let them out, so he cries. He allows himself this moment of weakness because he knows it’ll hurt more to face the music to come. 

 

It had hurt to see Lay still pine for him even when she was happily with Gon, but Killua had never really gone as far as to realize how close the two actually were. In the back of his mind, he thought, maybe -- just maybe -- that if given the choice, Lay might choose him over Gon. It was a terrible thought, which is why it’s been kept all the way back there for so long. 

 

But seeing Lay pleasured, feeling pleasure from Gon and not him, is such a wake up call. It’s like a slap to the face that Killua really cannot compare to what Lay has built with Gon already. They have been together for months now, hugging, kissing, holding hands, making love, sharing their lives with each other. Despite how Killua and Lay may have had a bond of some sort, there’s a reason why he’s not the one giving Lay that kind of pleasure that Gon is -- no matter how much he wants to. 

 

And what hurts the most is that Gon is his best friend, and Killua would do anything for him. Even give up the girl he lo-- … feels really strongly for. And long after crying himself out, and much more thought, he comes to the conclusion that this might be just what he has to do. He can’t get in between Gon and Lay, and there is no way he can risk hurting Lay again either. 

 

This is going to hurt like a bitch, but Killua doesn’t know what else he can do. If this is the best for the people he loves, then he’ll do anything. Even the pain and emotional suffering of his family’s pressuring expectations on him can’t leave a dent on the pain he feels right now, and what he’s going to do, but he knows that at least this is his choice. It’s his own, which is why the pain will probably at least be worth something. 

  
  


*

  
  


It’s not until a party thrown at one of the football player’s houses the Friday of the first week of school after spring break that Lay and Killua even speak to each other. The two had spent the majority of the first week simmering in their own anger and resentment, even with Gon’s many attempts at having the two reconcile. 

 

Killua had wanted to apologize many times, but he really couldn’t think of anything good enough to say to Lay after he had exploded at her like that. And Lay had refused to even sit at their lunch table that week because she wasn’t going to approach Killua about it first, is what Gon told him. 

 

Things had been quite stiff with his best friend too, since Killua kept trying to brush it off and avoid details, saying he was just pent up from family stuff and he took it out on Lay. Gon kept prodding him about it, and they almost got into a fight again, but eventually Gon just sighed and settled for asking Killua to make up with Lay. “I don’t want any bad blood between two of the most important people in my life.” 

 

But at this point, is there really anything he could possibly think of to say that wouldn’t be considered too late or an insincere attempt? He couldn’t possibly expect Lay to forgive him anyway, and maybe it would be better if she hated him. It would make it less hard for him to resist her that way, if she just avoided him altogether. If they’re not on good terms anymore, maybe Killua will finally be able to forget about her and move on with his life. 

 

However, it doesn’t look like Lay is having any more of Killua’s bullshit, since she approaches him in the kitchen while he’s moping by the keg. “Hey, how’s the beer?” she starts. 

 

Killua freezes when he turns around and confirms that the voice definitely belongs to Lay. He quickly stares into his cup and clears his throat before saying, “It’s piss water. But what do you expect for a back-to-school party?” 

 

“Killua, are you really not going to say anything to me?” Lay calls him out right away. She leans her head closer to him to get a look into his eyes, “You’re not even going to look at me?” 

 

Killua’s eyes widen before he takes a cautious step back to face Lay head-on. He looks at her for long moment, wishing he could appreciate how pretty she is without her glasses on tonight, but he presses his lips together before admitting, “I have a lot to say to you… but I don’t think anything I say now will ever excuse what I said to you that other night…” 

 

It fucking sucks to see Lay’s eyes soften when he says that. He can tell that she’s probably already forgiven him, and she’s just waiting for him to own up to his mistakes, but he doesn’t deserve any of that. She’s giving him too much credit for what he’s done, and she likely just wants to be Killua’s friend again as much as he does. 

 

“Even so… Don’t you think you could at least try? I know at the time you probably just wanted to vent. And maybe it would have been a better idea for me to just say ‘fuck dude, me too’ instead of offering you solutions the whole time. But the time for moping is over, Killua. We need to address this now or never.” she takes a bold step forward, her eyes adamant, “If not for the sake of our friendship, then for Gon, at the very least.” 

 

Killua presses his lips together, willing his stubbornness and pride to leave his body and to just purge his emotions for once. Be honest. “You’re right. You’re pretty much always right.” he looks down into his cup again, “And when you called me out like that the other night at Gon’s house, I couldn’t take it. So I shot back at you because… ‘cause I got mad. And because I couldn’t handle it, you ended up getting hurt. And so did Gon. So for that, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

 

Lay is still giving him a hard look, but she smiles as if she’s about to say something to accept his apology. But Killua takes a deep breath and speaks up before she can, “And as much as I want to be your friend again…. I don’t think I can do that anymore.” 

 

As expected, Lay furrows her eyebrows at him, looking at him as if he just sneezed on her and didn’t say ‘excuse me’. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“It means… It means… I…” Leave it to Killua to run his big mouth and still get tongue-tied after such a bold statement. “Look, it’s been really swell between us, which is something I never expected to happen, like, ever. So that was already a surprising gift in itself. But I don’t think I should keep pushing my luck like this anymore.”

 

“Killua, what the hell are you talking about? Is this… Is this about me dating Gon?” she holds back a bit with the question, wondering if she’s assuming too much. 

 

“It’s not.” he lies, “It’s just… you kind of get me in a way that a lot of other people can’t. And I realized that maybe it’s not such a good idea to let people know about that side of me.”

 

“What? Isn’t it better to have someone to talk to? To have someone who understands you a bit? Killua, why would you have friends in the first place if you don’t want to open up to them?” Lay looks legitimately confused now, and understandably so. Killua is pretty much spouting shit out of his ass right now in a strange attempt to push her away. 

 

“That’s what I thought. Of course it’d be better. But I told you about that part of me and look what happened: I shouted in your face and said all kinds of hurtful shit I didn’t mean!” 

 

“Well, if you realize that you did wrong, then I’m still willing to stick around and be your friend, Killua. I’m willing to forgive you and move on from that, and I want to be there for you as a friend. I really don’t get what your problem is right now.” Lay is getting a bit heated now. 

 

“My problem is you see right through me and I don’t want you to!” Killua shouts, and Lay actually pulls back a bit in surprise. “My problem is you probably know  _ exactly _ how I feel, and how I should handle it, but I don’t have the balls to listen to you or follow my own advice for that matter. You’re right, I’m a fucking hypocrite and I got fucking angry that you called me on my shit and that you were right, okay?!” 

 

He takes a moment to calm his breathing, and to watch Lay’s expression calm as well. She’s still a bit on edge, but she’s still here and listening to him, which says a lot about how understanding she is and goes to show that Killua really doesn’t deserve someone like her. The party is still going on full blast around them, even with their loud argument, but the tension between them is so loud that he can barely register anything else around them. 

 

“I can’t handle your tough love or friendship, and I’ll just end up hurting you again… So I think it’d be best for us to kinda just… stop. And go back to the way things were before all this happened.” he finishes lamely. 

 

“‘Stop.’” Lay tests the word on her tongue to try and understand it, to feel it and its meaning, looking at him with dangerously calm eyes, “You mean, you want to… take all those months of friendship, where we listened to each other, and confided in each other, and you helped me with my dad, and with singing in front of Gon’s family, and made me think you actually  _ gave a fuck _ about me… and just put them away.” Lay’s voice rises only to fall flat with her last phrase. 

 

“You mean to tell me that you regret this friendship so much that you want to just erase it all and act as if it never happened. Like I never meant a thing to you and you didn’t mean a thing to me.” Lay throws her hands up only to let them fall at her sides, as if she’s challenging him but looking quite defeated. “Are you serious right now, Killua?” It’s almost a plea. 

 

He wants to say yes. He wants to just seal the deal and have them cut off forever, so he won’t have to worry about making a mistake that will end up in all sorts of regret. He wants to, but he can’t. He can’t bring himself to admit that he never cared about Lay because as much as he lies to himself about everything else, he can’t lie about his feelings for her. They’ve always been so apparent and at the forefront of his mind, and they spilled out of his mouth before he could filter it, and he can’t lie to her because he just doesn’t want to. As much as it hurts to admit the truth, it hurts more to say that she is nothing to him. 

 

However, he says nothing. He only looks at her with the most hurt and vulnerable blue eyes that Lay has ever seen. And Lay can only interpret that look and Killua’s prolonged silence as a confirmation for her statement, “Whatever, Killua.” Lay’s voice almost cracks at the last syllable, and Killua can feel his heart crack from hearing it. “You fucking suck.” 

 

It really does crack with her last sentence but she turns away too quickly for Killua to catch her expression. Which is probably a good thing, because then he won’t be able to risk tearing the rest of his chest apart with the pain of seeing Lay hurt. He stands there for a while, holding his cup of cheap beer, leaning on the counter and staring at the floor. He tries letting the music blast into his head until it splits apart, let the nasty taste of the beer make him cringe, let anything give him some sort of feeling that isn’t numbness, or pain. Anything. 

 

He doesn’t know how long he stays there, looking like some random emo kid who tried to hop into a high school party only to realize the world sucks and he never should have ever tried to leave his house. Even when some of the guys from the team greet him and make him chug more beer, pat his back, and make dumb comments about random shit, he still doesn’t feel much. The recovery is incredibly slow, and Killua isn’t sure if this feeling will ever stop. And the obscurity of its duration just fills him with despair. 

 

After a while longer, his friends move him over to the living room, where a commotion seems to be going on. But Killua’s eyes widen only to realize that Lay is in the middle of the living room, having a dance-off with someone. The crowd around them is hyping them up as they continue to make impression moves and bounce off of each other, but it’s clear that Lay is pissed out of her skull drunk. 

 

She must have gotten something stronger than what was in the keg. Maybe someone showed her to Barry’s parents’ stash. But she is going off at it right now, and Killua can only watch disapprovingly as she and the guy she was dance-battling with start crowd surfing. 

 

What the hell is she thinking?? Getting passed around by drunk teenagers. Where the hell is Gon right now? Shouldn’t he be watching out for Lay to make sure she’s okay?? Or at the very least that other dudes aren’t hitting on her?? If she was Killua’s girlfriend-- 

 

But she’s not. Killua has to step back from the route he was making towards Lay to catch her and carry her to the ground when he spots Gon moving around the crowd in pursuit of his girlfriend. Lay is not Killua’s girlfriend, and as far as he knows, they’re not really friends anymore thanks to his dumbass mouth and insecurity. 

 

She is Gon’s girlfriend, and it seems Gon has enough to worry about without Lay being totally shitfaced judging by how he frowns before he catches her when she slides down from the crowd of people and stumbles into his arms. 

 

It looks like he’s saying something reprimanding to her, giving her a worried look, but Lay is too far gone to even perceive his concern. She only giggles and runs her hands down her boyfriend’s chest to rest at his waist and hook her fingers into his belt loops, pulling him closer to her. 

 

After sniffing at his neck and collar, she leans up to whisper something into his ear before putting their lips together. Gon pulls away and attempts one more time to talk some sense into his drunk ass girlfriend, but she’s obviously concerned about getting something else. So after a somewhat exasperated sigh, Gon gives in and lets her kiss him however she likes. It’s not too long before they’re making out rather passionately by the wall of the living room and Lay is getting handsy, and Killua realizes he’s staring. So tearing his eyes away from the couple, he makes his way into the kitchen as well, determined to get some of that hard liquor for himself. 

 

If Lay can act out and drink herself stupid, then so can he. 


	11. Beg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of the dinner party (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the second installment of a double update, so hopefully you read the previous chapter first. this one is our first bit of substantial smut for the story \O/ originally, i was going to make this bonus material, but there's some dialogue in here that may be important for upcoming chapters. 
> 
> the chapter title is a song by Jack & Jack that i really love right now, so i hope you give it a listen. a bit easygoing for the mood of this chapter, but appropriate nonetheless.

After spending the evening tossing and turning over all the shit Killua said to her, Lay gets up in the morning and practices a few dance routines to get her mind off of the entire event. As much as she had wanted to feel angry at Killua for saying all those terrible things to her, she can't help but feel sorry for him. 

 

Of course, nothing excuses his words and actions, but he must have gone through a lot with his family if he suddenly blew up on her like that. And despite how she she wants to slap his face and huff at him and tell him what a jerk he is, all she really wants to do is hug him and make him feel better. 

 

Honestly, that’s all she had ever wanted from Killua. With how far she's come with Gon now, it's hard to imagine something working out with her feelings for Killua, but she still wanted to be his friend, to be some sort of leg of support for him in his life. He’s done a lot for her, and she just wanted to do the same for him. To leave some sort of impact on him like he left on her. But he's harder to get through than a pomegranate. It's difficult to get every seed out of him. 

 

But Killua aside, Lay owes it to her boyfriend, whose family dinner they ruined, to apologize properly and explain the situation to him. So after texting him and being driven to Gon’s house, she's let in by Gon’s Aunt Mito. 

 

After handing over the fruit basket she had prepared and apologizing profusely to the point of making Mito flustered, Gon swoops in and greets his girlfriend with a hug and kiss to the top of her head. Mito reassures Lay that she and the rest of the family have forgiven her before she leaves the house to go get some more groceries for the soup she wants to make tonight. “Thank you so much for the fruit, honey.” she tells Lay before waving as she leaves the house, “Let me know if you're gonna stay for dinner tonight, okay?”

 

“Thank you, Mito!” Lay calls back. 

 

“Come on up,” Gon leads her up the stairs by the waist towards his room that she's been into countless times now. Sometimes to study, sometimes to watch movies, sometimes to play games, and sometimes to do… other things. 

 

After they both get settled on Gon’s bed, with Lay cross-legged and Gon leaning back on his hands with his legs hanging over the edge, Lay begins with, “I am so sorry about yesterday.”

 

Gon only gives her a small nod, “I know.” 

 

“Did we cause a lot of trouble for you and your family?” Lay asks, consumed with guilt.

 

“I explained the situation as best as I could. How they react to it is up to them. It’s not really their business anyway.” he shrugs. 

 

Lay scoots forward a bit, closer to Gon so she can place a hand on his cheek, “I’m so, so sorry.” 

 

Gon sighs, because he is clearly upset that this had to happen, even more because they didn’t bother to explain anything to him, but he knows he can’t stay mad for long. Covering Lay’s hand on his cheek with his own, he says in a low, careful voice, “What’s going on between you two?” 

 

Lay can tell it’s a loaded question. She knows that Gon has picked up on her interaction with Killua in the past before they got together, and he must suspect that there’s still some tension going on between them even though she chose to have Gon as her boyfriend. Especially after last night when Killua had just waltzed up to her and must have looked like he magically fixed her stage fright with his presence. As of now, she has no idea where she stands with Killua because of that fight, but she wants to believe that he didn’t mean it. 

 

But right now, she has to answer her boyfriend’s question. She came here to put him a little at ease, so she has to stay focused on him before she worries about Killua any more. Taking her hand back, she fiddles with her fingers a bit before finally saying, “Killua’s family… is probably putting a lot of pressure on him right now. And I’d like to think that all the stress is what brought on that argument in your backyard last night…” 

 

“Yeah, the internship thing must have been a huge burden on him this spring break…” Gon nods. “But what about you? Why were you guys arguing about… about your stage fright? Was it because of what happened earlier when they asked you to play a song?” 

 

“No, not really.” Lay looks down, pressing her lips together. Honestly, she doesn’t even completely know what that whole thing was about. Killua just seemed so adamant to turn everything on her that night, talking about how she wouldn’t understand him when that’s all she’s ever tried to do. “I tried to return some of the advice he’s given me about trying to overcome my fear of disappointing an audience, but he kept telling me that I just… didn’t get him. How different his situation was, how I couldn’t possibly relate… And that really hurt me, you know?” 

 

She’s still looking down at her fingers that she’s stroking absentmindedly when Gon closes the remaining space between them to put his arm around her comfortingly. “You know, I thought we could relate, since our families with big names have big expectations. But I guess maybe he didn’t want me to get him after all…” Lay shrugs. 

 

“Babe, that’s not true.” Gon gently kisses her temple, “Killua is my best friend, and I know that he would not bother getting along with you if that’s how he really felt. And yeah, it’s complicated… he’s complicated, just like you’re complicated, and none of that excuses whatever he said to you last night. But… you’re both important to me, so I’m hoping… that you might have it in you to be patient with him. Please.” he hugs Lay into his chest. 

 

“I mean, I’d never hold it against him. Of course I want us to recover from this, but right now, it doesn’t feel like he’s in a good place, or that he even wants to let me in.” Lay mumbles with her cheek resting against her boyfriend’s shoulder. 

 

“He’ll come around. He’s slow with that kind of stuff, but he will.” Gon reassures, despite how it feels a bit strange to be reassuring his girlfriend that her friendship with his best friend will heal itself. 

 

“Okay.” Lay buries her face into Gon’s neck and takes a deep whiff to calm herself. “What about you, though?” she places a warm hand on Gon’s chest. 

 

“What about me?” 

 

“You probably had a rough night.”

 

“You don’t know the half of it.” Gon sighs, rubbing his hand along Lay’s arm. 

 

Ouch. But at least he’s being honest. “What can I do to make it up to you?” 

 

Gon can think of a lot of things, but he doesn’t want to break this fragile atmosphere, so he asks, “What is this heavy burden you’re carrying that has to do with your stage fright then? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

 

With a sigh, Lay buries herself deeper into Gon’s neck, which he likes but wonders if the question is too personal after all. But eventually, she comes back up to say, “I always liked singing and dancing and playing around with music. My mom had the biggest names and best artists she knew teach me. Some of them were even her own mentors. But that’s when it became more of an expectation rather than something I did for fun. I was expected to perform well, since I had the best teachers. But I was always kind of shy as a child, so I suppose it was natural that I reacted with fear more than I did eagerness.

 

“After I messed up on my first few low-stakes performances, I just got more and more nervous about being onstage and in front of people. Then it kind of just kept spiraling into something bigger, and fear became paranoia, until I eventually couldn’t even face a crowd of ten strangers because I was afraid I wouldn’t meet their expectations and end up shaming all the work my teachers put into teaching me.”

 

Lay stops speaking for a bit, and Gon just kisses her head to give her a sign that he’s listening attentively and supportively. “Well, if you look at it from someone else’s point of view, it might seem weird. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to do what they love? But I guess my feelings are… complicated, too.” 

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Gon reassures her, giving her another kiss. 

 

“Thanks, Gon.” Lay murmurs beside Gon’s collarbone, “But I think I’ll stop here. I came here to apologize to you, yet here I am being comforted by you. I always get caught up in your pace, y’know?” Lay pins him with a playfully accusing half smile. 

 

“I really appreciate you telling me about this. I just want to know so much more about you…” he looks deeply into Lay’s eyes as he tucks some hair behind her ear, “But if you want to stop for now, how about I set a different pace then?” Gon leans down to briefly but tenderly press his lips against Lay’s, “If you’re okay with it, that is.” 

 

Lay smiles lazily and uncrosses her legs to rest them on her boyfriend’s lap, bringing her arms to wrap around his shoulders, “You know I’m always down have you take the lead.”

 

Gon sighs in bliss before capturing Lay’s mouth in his again. They kiss deeply for a long time. They kiss and kiss and kiss until Lay is straddling Gon’s lap, and Gon is running his hands all over her skin underneath her clothes, and they’re tongueing at each other with a whimsical kind of pleasure. Every touch is sensual and meaningful and sensitive, as if transmitting their messages and intentions through each other’s bodies. 

 

When they detach their lips, Gon’s heady gaze swallows Lay’s spirit, and she wants to dive into his thoughts and please every one of them. “I like you, so much…” Gon confesses in his throaty, guttural voice that’s gone an octave deeper with the influx of dopamine. “I really, really like you…” he sighs as if it’s painful for him to hold back with his words that can’t even begin to match up to his feelings. 

 

“I really, really like you too.” Lay whispers back, afraid of the scratchiness in her own voice. She closes her eyes and leans in to suck at Gon’s jawbone, as if attempting to prove it. 

 

Gon groans and brings his hand up to pull Lay’s chin up so he can kiss her again. They moan together, and the harmony of the sounds just enhance the sensation. It feels like they’re on the exact same wavelength. “But… It’s kind of crazy…” Gon gasps when he pulls away this time. Their lips are only a centimeter apart, but the pressure between them is strong, “Scary, even… How I like you so damn much.” 

 

He pushes his warm, soft lips against Lay’s again just to relieve a little bit of the needy tension his body is screaming for, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anyone…” he confesses, high on pleasure and adrenaline. “I feel like… If I told you that I love you… It would make it too real.” 

 

Lay pulls back, just enough to look into both of Gon’s eyes clearly to see the deepset, raw, unmistakably pure emotion in them, “Do you… love me?” she breathes, hesitant. They’ve never actually said that to each other before, despite how affectionate Gon can be. He’s serious about his feelings. 

 

“Honestly?” Gon’s voice is husky with the tension in the room, “I’m a little scared to. There’s so much about you… that I just don’t get. I don’t know if that’s why I want you so much… Or why I’m kind of scared that Killua will get you, but I won’t.” The double meaning is in there, but not specified. So he kisses her, and Lay can almost taste the raw fear in his lips. It’s there, and it’s thick with envy and desire. 

 

“Gon…” Lay is buzzing from how intense the emotions are between them right now. She’s never felt this way about anyone else either. Despite her unyielding feelings for Killua, she still really likes Gon. There’s no way that she couldn’t grow attached to him after spending so much time getting to know the brave, pure, loving soul that he is. 

 

“But when you say my name like that…” Gon sighs again, in both pain and pleasure, pressing his lips against Lay’s once more. “I can’t fight it. I want you so much… I want you…” he murmurs, almost like a chant to himself, “Lay, I think I love you… I know it hasn’t been that long, and that you may not believe me, but I really do think… that I love you….” 

 

Gon feels like he might be on the verge of crying, he’s put himself so far out there, like he’s dived off the edge of a cliff where he can’t tell if he’ll live or not. 

 

“I believe you.” Lay hums against Gon’s mouth, “And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way. You shouldn’t ever be afraid to love someone…” Each word is heavy as if comes out of her mouth, just because the atmosphere is so dense, “Yet here I am… afraid to find out that I love you too.” 

 

“What?” Gon looks like he doesn’t want to dare to be hopeful, but he can’t help it. 

 

“I don’t know yet.” she kisses him, “It’s hard for me to figure out. But… I’ve never felt this way about anyone either…” 

 

“How do you… feel about me then?” Gon doesn’t know how to phrase the question without somehow making it sound like he’s putting pressure on her. 

 

Lay continues to hesitate, “I’m… afraid to say it.” 

 

Because if she says it, it might be true. Or if she says it, she might be wrong in the end. If she says it, she’ll be making a promise to Gon that she might not be able to keep. A promise that might be compromised because of how she feels about another beautiful, blue-eyed, white-haired, stubborn but kind-hearted boy. Because if she says it… she might have to put those feelings behind her… and she doesn’t know if she wants to, as selfish as that is.

 

But Gon, ever the angel who’s too good for her, tells her, “Then you don’t have to say it. I’ll wait until you’re sure…” he caresses her face, giving her that saint-like, patient smile of his. It’s almost frustrating, but it’s one of the things she loves most about him. “So for now, just say my name like you always do.”

 

“The way you like it?” Lay whimpers as Gon massages her hips with his strong hands. 

 

Gon lies her down on her back to press his mouth against hers again, “The way I  _ love _ it.” he emphasizes the request with a grind of his hips against Lay’s. 

 

“Mm!” Lay squirms, loving the movements of Gon’s body after so much emotional buildup. Her body is so high-strung that she could probably come with just a stroke to her clit. “Gon…” 

 

“Just like that, baby.” he says into Lay’s neck as he continues to grind his hips against hers. 

 

“Gon… what about your family?” Lay gasps as he begins to nip at the base of her neck. 

 

“Just say it so only I can hear it then, babe.” he says before reaching over to grab the remote for his stereo to turn it on and amp up the volume just enough that the music will disguise any other noises they make to listeners outside the door. 

 

Before leaning back down, Gon pulls his shirt up over his head and tosses it to the floor. He lets Lay stare and run her hands down his torso like she usually likes to before he comes down to kiss her again. Lay hugs Gon’s chest as they continue to kiss and grind for another minute or so, and then she lets her hands wander down his back.

 

Pushing her fingers underneath the waistband of his basketball shorts and boxers to continue feeling Gon’s skin, Lay’s thumbs hook onto the outside of the waistbands and drag them down as she pushes lower. And as she slides her hands around to the front to pull the shorts down, Gon’s hot, flushed cock springs free from its confines, almost scalding Lay’s stomach with its desperate heat. 

 

Gon pushes the shorts and underwear the rest of the way down and kicks them to the floor alongside his shirt, leaving him naked to rub and press against his still fully-clothed girlfriend. Lay is already working on the button and zipper of her black jeans, so Gon helps her yank them down her thighs. She helpfully lifts her legs up into the air so Gon can pull them off, and take her panties with them before tossing them to the floor as well. 

 

Then Gon brings his arms underneath Lay’s back to lift her to sit atop his lap. She whines with the delicious barrier-free touch of her slit along the underside of Gon’s hard cock. Gon sucks in a breath as she starts rubbing her wet slit against him just to amp herself up, and hurriedly pulls at the hem of Lay’s shirt to pull over her head. She continues to bounce in Gon’s lap and rub against the sides of his shaft until Gon gets her bra off as well. 

 

“Gon…!” she whines into his ear, and he growls. 

 

“Fuck, babe. I need you so bad.” he starts rolling his hips against her as well, just rubbing against each other and occasionally brushing his head into her entrance, but never going inside.

 

“Oh my god, Gon!” she cries, “Please.”

 

“Are you ready, babe?” 

 

“Yes, hurry.” she breathes desperately, like if she doesn’t get cock in the next ten seconds, she’ll collapse. 

 

The insertion is quick and smooth. They’ve done this enough times before that there usually are never any problems, but Gon always makes sure she gives the green light first. And like earlier, their moans ring together like the love song that’s playing in the background. 

 

He’s deep, balls deep, and Lay has never felt so relieved to be full. Finally, the tension built up in the last hour is going to be purged. But she needs movement, so she rolls her hips long and deep against Gon’s, groaning in the limitless pleasure she feels pulsing against her walls. One of the many great things about Gon is how well endowed he is, and Lay is endlessly thankful that she has a nice, big cock to squeeze around. 

 

The feeling is clearly mutual, since Gon is pressing his fingers hard enough against Lay’s hips to leave some red indentation marks. He wants her to stay there forever, to clench around him for the rest of his life, to feel every inch of her body wrapped around his. “Shit.” he grunts when Lay wraps her legs around his waist and hooks her ankles together behind him, allowing him to sink deeper still into Lay’s core. “Fuck, baby it feels so good. You're so tight.” he groans into her neck as he picks up her weight and gets on his knees to press her back against the wall, ramming himself as far as he can go. 

 

“Agh!” she mewls, hugging her legs tighter still around Gon’s firm, muscled body. “Gon, move. Please.” she begs. 

 

He doesn't need to be told twice. So after firmly grabbing onto Lay’s ass cheeks to hold her up, Gon begins thrusting into her, slow and deep. He goes by the sound of her moans as he sucks at the skin on her neck to figure out when to adjust his speed. “Gon! Oh, Gon.” she chants endlessly, like his name is a dirty sin but a soft prayer at the same time. 

 

“Fuck, Lay I'm gonna come…” he moans as she continues to chant his name into his ear. 

 

“Mmm… Me, too.” she murmurs. 

 

“Come with me.” he urges. Switching most of Lay’s weight that isn't pressed against the wall with his chest onto one arm, Gon uses his thumb to pull and rub at Lay’s clit until she's crying. And they do manage to come one after another with a few seconds between them. 

 

She sobs with Gon’s name on her tongue through to the end, rubbing against him during her orgasm, riding out her orgasm, and kissing him until she's sated. And Gon groans and breathes loudly as he doesn't relent with his thrusts until their bodies have come to a complete rest. 

 

Gon lies her on the bed and pulls out, letting their mixed cum slowly trickle out of her.  The quarterback leans down to lap at it, absolutely enticed by the taste of them together. He leans up to kiss Lay with the taste still on his lips, to share the sensation and she responds eagerly. And the post orgasm kissing only elevates until Gon has Lay’s legs on his shoulders next and he's pushing deep inside of her again until he spits himself soft once more. And yet again as he takes his turn lying down while Lay rides him wild, and he takes his time enjoying the sight of her swollen bottom lips swallow him whole again and again as her breasts bounce along with the rhythm she takes. 

 

But eventually their wild, extended romp comes to an end with the exhaustion of their bodies. They just lie there for a few more minutes, lazily sharing more kisses before finally cleaning up. When they make their way downstairs about an hour later, after talking a bit more, Mito is already back and has her soup on the stove. “Lay, you staying for dinner?” she asks. 

 

“I think I'll pass tonight, Mito. Thank you so much, though.” she answers, even though Gon pouts at her. 

 

“Hmm, what about your friend, Killua?” Gon’s grandmother looks up from the scarf that she's crocheting. 

 

“Killua?” Gon furrows his eyebrows, “Why do you ask, grandma?”

 

“What? Killua was here. I opened the door for him earlier. I thought he went upstairs to talk to you two.” Now even the grandmother looks confused. 

 

“What? Are you sure? No one came into my room, though.” Gon raises an eyebrow, wondering if he had the door locked when he was upstairs… playing around with Lay. Shit, what if he didn't. Was it possible that he…? 

 

“Mom, are you sure you're not just confusing your memories of seeing Killua from yesterday with today or something? You still can't remember where I put the dishes sometimes.” Mito jokes as she stirs her soup around. 

 

“Did I?” Gon’s grandma hums, “I could have sworn I opened the door for Killua today though. Strange. But you can probably ask him tomorrow.” she shrugs it off and goes back to her scarf. 

 

“Okay then. I'm gonna take Lay home first. I'll be back soon!” Gon announces as he leads his girlfriend by the small of her back towards the door. 

 

Lay says her own goodbyes before they leave Gon’s house and get into his car. “Do you think Killua actually came? And maybe… walked into anything…?” Lay clears her throat, blushing at the prospect of Killua catching her in the middle of the act. She starts letting her imagination wander towards scenes of eye-fucking him from her position on or underneath Gon’s hips, letting him watch her as she gets pleasured and beckoning at him to join in on the fun. But then she feels guilty and halts herself from imagining any further. 

 

“Dunno.” Gon hums as he pulls out of the driveway, “Granted, that's never happened before, so I don't know how he'd react.” 

 

Lay can imagine; a flushed Killua stops dead and can't help but stare. And probably tries to run off before he gets caught. If he did get caught however… But that's something Lay will have to keep to her own imagination. For the time being, Killua should at least get his shit together before he's walking in on anything steamy.


End file.
